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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1.0 


I.I 


11.25 


1^  12^ 

12.2 
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fliotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WP*T  MAIN  STRUT 

WMSTIR.N.Y.  MSSO 

(716)  873-4503 


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iV 


4 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

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microfiches. 


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Map 
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illustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

JOHN    RICE   JONES. 
RICE   JONES. 


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FERGUS-     HISTORICAL    SERIES,     No.     3  2. 


JOHN  RICE  JONES: 

A    HRIFF    SKETCH    OF    THE 
I. IFF.    AND    PUHLIC    CARKER   (JF   THE    FIRST    PRAC  .SING    LAWYER 

IN    ILLINOIS. 

RICE  JONES: 

A    BRIEF    MEMOIR    OF 

THE    LAST    REPRESENTATIVE    OF    RANDOLPH    COUNTY    IN     I  HE 

GENERAL    ASSEMBLY    OF    INDIANA    TERRITORY, 

AND    THE 

VICTI.M    OF   AN    HLSTORICAL  TRAGEDY  OF   EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


HY 


W.  A.   HURT  JONES. 


REI'RI.NIKI)    KRO.M 

Vol..  IV.,  Chicago  Historical  Socikty'.s  Coii.kci'io.ns  : 
••  Karlv  Chicaco  A.M)  Im.i.nois." 


CHICAGO: 

FER(;US    PKINTIiVG    ^(JMPANY. 

18S9. 


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U.I8YS 

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JOHN    RICE   JONES. 

A    HRIKK    SKF.TCH    OK    THK    I.IKE    AM)    I'UIM.IC    CARKKk 
FIRST    I'RACTISINd    LAWYKR    IN    IM.INOIS. 


-K     IHK 


By  W.  A.  Burt  Jones  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 


*     *     "A  friend  to  truth,  of  soul  sinixTc, 
In  action  faithful,  and  in  honor  clear." 

JOHN  RICE  JONES  was  born  in  Malhvyd,  .i  beautiful 
village  on  the  "murmuring  Dyfi,"  in  that  wildest  and 
most  picturesque  of  all  Welsh  counties,  M  kionothshir  . 
February  ii,  1759.  He  was  one  of  fourteen  children  and 
the  eldest  son  of  John  Jones,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  wi  good 
circuit 'Stances  and  of  highly  respectable  social  standing, 
belonging  as  he  did  to  an  ancient  and  honorable  family 
celebrated  in  the  history  and  poetry  of  his  native  country, 
''fair  Wales,  the  land  of  song." 

John  Rice  Jones  received  a  collegiate  education  at  Ox- 
ford, England,  and  afterward  took  a  regular  course  in  both 
medicine  and  law.  He  then  established  himself  in  the 
practice  of  the  latter  in  London,  where,  in  1753,  in  St. 
George's  Church,  Hanover  Square,  his  parents  had  been 
married,  and  where  a  number  of  relatives  and  friends 
resided.  In  a  deed  dated  in  1783,  and  conveying  to  him 
certain  property  in  Brecon,  Wales,  he,  then  a  resident  of 
the  British  metropolis,  is  described  as  "John  Rice  Jones  of 
T  lanet  Place,  in  the  Strand,  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Clement 
Danes,  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  gentleman,"  which 
locates  him  pretty  closely  in  the  great  city  a  hundred 
years  ago. 

He  came  to  America  in  February,  1784,  and  located  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 

7  99 


W 


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lOO 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


fession,  and  made  the  friendly  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Benja- 
min Rush,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Myers  Fisher,  the  eminent 
lawyer,  and  other  distinguished  men,  to  some  of  whom  he 
had  letters  of  introduction.  He  remained  here  some  two 
years,  when,  having  long  heard  of  the  wonderful  Far  West, 
and  evidently  having  strong  confidence  in  the  greatness 
and  importance  it  would  assume  in  the  early  future,  he 
there  decided  to  cast  his  lines,  and  accordingly  set  out  on 
the  long  and  tedious  journey  of  over  eight  hundred  miles 
to  Louisville,  Ky.,  his  objective  point,  and  then  the  most 
important  American  settlement  west  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  the  trip  to  which  was  fraught  with  many  perils 
and  discomforts,  yet  which,  we  are  told,  was  in  many  ways 
extremely  interesting  and  enjoyable  in  a  pleasant  season 
of  the  year. 

It  is  not  known  whether  he  came  with  his  family  from 
Philadelphia  to  Fort  Pitt — now  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  in 
the  centre  of  a  vasfrly-extended  civilization,  but  then  an 
isolated  and  lonely  military  post  on  the  remote  frontier — 
and  thence  down  the  Ohio  River  by  boat,  or  came  entirely 
overland  by  the  only  other  route  to  the  West,  which 
crossed  the  Blue- Ridge  Mountains  above  the  head-waters 
of  the  Potomac,  then  led  down  between  that  range  and 
the  Alleghanies  to  old  Fort  Chissel,  and  thence  via  the 
Great  Wilderness  road,  which  admitted  of  only  horseback 
and  foot  travel,  through  Kentucky  by  way  of  Cumberland 
Gap.  He  reached  his  destination  in  safety,  however,  as, 
after  his  departure  from  Philadelphia,  we  next  meet  him  at 
the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  or  Louisville,  where,  in  Sept.,  1786,. 
he  joined  the  army  of  one  thousand  men  raised  and  com- 
manded by  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark,  under  the  authority 
of  Virginia,  for  the  suppression  of  the  hostile  Wabash 
tribes  of  Indians.  Gen.  Clark  proceeded  into  their  coun- 
try some  distance  above  Vincennes,  when  it  was  deemed 
iiiexpedient — owing  to  the  partial  loss  of  supplies,  shipped 


9      1^    I 


JOHN    RICK  JONKS. 


lOI 


.  Benja- 
eminent 
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deemed. 

shipped 


after  them  via  the  Ohio,  and  to  the  discontent  and  deser- 
tion of  some  of  the  troops  —  to  proceed  further,  and  the 
little  army,  abandoning  the  expedition,  fell  back  to  V^in- 
cennes.  Owing  to  the  exposed  condition  of  that  post  at 
the  time,  it  was  considered  advisable  to  establish  there  a 
military  garrison,  and  the  project  was  determined  upon 
and  carried  into  execution  at  once  by  a  council  composed 
of  the  field-officers  of  the  Wabash  expedition,  the  garri- 
son, it  was  decided,  to  consist  of  three  hundred  men— two 
hundred  and  fifty  infantry,  and  a  company  of  artillery 
under  Capt.  Valentine  T.  Dalton.  Gen.  Clark  assumed 
the  supreme  direction  of  the  corps,  and  levied  recruits, 
appointed  officers,  and  impressed  provisions  for  their  sup- 
port.* Of  this  garrison,  John  Rice  Jones  was  appointed 
commissary-general,  in  place  of  John  Craig,  Jr.,  who  was 
first  appointed  but  did  not  act.f 

At  this  time,  negotiations  were  pending  between  the 
United  States  and  the  court  at  Madrid  relative  to  the  con- 
cession by  Spain  of  the  right  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River  by  the  Americans.  This  privilege  had 
always  been  vigorously  denied  the  United  States  by  the 
Spanish  government,  and  had  become  not  only  a  bone  of 
diplomatic  contention  between  the  two  countries,  but  a 
fruitful  cause  of  ill-feeling  between  the  citizens  of  the  one 
and  the  subjects  of  the  other  living  and  intermingling  on 
the  borders  of  the  western  possessions  of  the  nations  con- 
cerned. The  Spaniards  there  had  repeatedly  confi.scated 
property  of  and  committed  other  outrages  upon  Ameri- 
cans, and  when  an  unfounded  but  readily-credited  rumor 
came  that  congress  had  conceded  everything  to  Spain,  and 
that  in  consequence  the  citizens  of  the  Far  West  would 
thenceforth  have  to  champion  their  cherished  cause  alone 
and  take  care  of  themselves  and  their  interests  generally, 

*  Dillon's  "History  of  Indiana." 

+  Dunn's  "Indiana:  A  Redemption  from  Slavery." 


1 


^mm 


102 


P:ARLY   ILLINOIS. 


i 


intense  excitement  and  resentment  followed  and  prompted 
measures  of  summary  retaliation  for  the  depredations  com- 
mitted upon  them  in  the  past. 

A  systematic  and  vigorous  course  was  adopted  at  Vin- 
cennes  by  Gen.  Clark,  under  whose  direction  the  garrison 
troops  seized  upon  all  Spanish  property  at  the  post  and 
the  Illinois,  very  considerable  and  valuable  altogether,  and 
turned  it  over  to  John  Rice  Jones,  who  as  commissary- 
general,  by  regular  appointment  of  Gen.  Clark,  retained 
a  proper  portion  of  the  contraband  property  for  garrison 
uses,  and  disposed  of  the  remainder  at  auction*  for  the 
partial  indemnification  of  citizens  whose  possessions  had 
been  as  unceremoniously  appropriated  by  Spanish  pil- 
lagers. John  Rice  Jones  was  at  this  time  only  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age,  and  his  abilities  and  character  must 
have  been  very  marked  to  have  secured  for  him  in  a  brief 
period  his  considerable  local  prominence  and,  above  all, 
the  confidence  and  esteem,  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed, 
of  such  a  man  as  Gen.  Clark,  "the  Washington  of  the 
West,  whose  genius,  abilities,  and  bravery,  that  elevated 
him  above  his  fellow-men,"  rendered  his  friendship  an 
honor  to  any  man  upon  whom  it  was  bestowed. 

John  Rice  Jones  seems  to  have  become  thoroughly  im~ 
bued  with  the  martial  spirit  of  the  period  and  country  in 
which  he  lived.  First  we  find  him  as  a  member  of  Gen. 
Clark's  army,  recruited  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  for  service 
against  the  Indians  of  the  Wabash;  next  as  commissary- 
general  of  the  Vincennes  garrison;  and  after  an  interval  of 
four  years — a  period  in  Mr.  Jones'  military  history  which  the 
writer  has  no  data  concerning,  but  one  in  which  the  former 
no  doubt  continued  his  connection  with  the  garrison  until 
its  dissolution  in  the  summer  of  1787,  and  from  that  time 
with  local  militia  organizations — we  accidentally  discover 
him,  so  to  speak,  as  one  of  "the  effective  men  belonging 

*  Dillon's  "History  of  Indiana, "and  Dunn's  "Indiana." 


Mi^ 


AM 


ULiSYS 

■  iiwniiaia 


JOHN    RICE   JONES. 


103 


rompted 
)ns  com- 

at  Vin- 
garrison 
30st  and 
:her,  and 
missary- 
retained 

garrison 
^  for  the 
ions  had 
nish   pil- 

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in  a  brief 
.bove  all, 
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of  Gen. 
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missary- 

erval  of 
vhich  the 
e  former 
son  until 
lat  time 
discover 
elonging 


to  Capt.  Pierre  Gamelin's  company  at  Post  Vincennes, 
July  4,  1790."*  This  company  was  a  militia  organization 
designed  to  serve  at  home  or  in  the  field  against  the 
Indians,  who  throughout  the  spring  and  summer  of  1790 
"continued  to  wage  irregular  war  against  emigrating  fami- 
lies and  settlers  along  the  borders  of  the  Ohio,  from  its 
mouth  to  Pittsburg." 

Their  harassing  hostilities  occasioned  Gen.  Josiah  Har- 
mar's  famous  but  fruitless  expedition  against  them  in  the 
fall  of  this  year,  and  called  forth,  under  Maj.  John  Francis 
Hamtramck,  the  local  militia,  including  Capt.  Gamelin's 
company,  at  the  post,  in  addition  to  the  regular  United- 
States  garrison  under  him,  which  garrison  was  established 
in  July,  1787,  by  the  then  Col.  Harmar,  to  succeed  that 
of  Gen,  Clark's  creating.  Hamtramck's  expedition  as 
ordered  by  Gen.  Harmar,  who  himself  operated  against 
the  Miamis,  was  directed  against  the  Wabash  tribes.  Be- 
fore the  approach  of  this  command,  which  is  known  in 
history  .1  the  "Wabash  regiment,"  the  Indians,  not  stay- 
ing to  do  battle,  fled  precipitately,  deserting  several  vil- 
lages and  their  contents,  which  were  destroyed  by  the 
white  troops.  Mr.  Jones  probably  took  part  in  other  cam- 
paigns against  the  Indians,  but  the  writer  has  had  access 
to  but  few  manuscript  records,  official  or  otherwise,  which 
are  scattered,  and  has  not  chanced  to  find  any  published 
work  giving  further  information  on  the  point. 

In  accordance  with  the  act  of  congress  of  March  3,  1791, 
John  Rice  Jones  received  from  the  United  States  govern- 
ment a  grant  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  located  near 
Vincennes.  Northwest  Territory,  for  his  services  as  militia- 
man, as  also  did  three  of  his  brothers-in-law,  the  Barger 
brothers,  as  will  hereafter  appear.f  He  had  before  this 
probably  acquired  considerable  real  possessions,  and  in  a 

'^  Law's  "Colonial  History  of  Vincennes." 

t"  American  State  Papers — Public  Lands, "  Vols.  I  and  VH. 


I04 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


few  years  became  an  extensive  land-owner,  as  the  early 
territorial  records  of  both  Indiana  and  Illinois,  as  well  as 
the  general  government  archives,  abundantly  attest.  The 
Ordinance  of  1787  imposed  the  ownership  of  considerable 
real  estate  conditional  to  eligibility  to  the  higher  civil 
offices,  as  it  did  in  a  smaller  measure  to  the  right  to  hold 
lesser  ones,  and  even  to  the  right  of  suffrage.  It  is  likely 
that  in  those  days  of  scarcity  of  money,  John  Rice  Jones 
frequently  had  to  take  real  property,  or  claims  thereto,  in 
exchange  for  legal  services,  and  by  that  means,  as  well  as 
by  purchases  outright,  accumulated  his  many  thousands 
of  acres  of  land.  In  1808,  he  paid  taxes  on  16,400  acres 
in  Monroe  County  alone;  he  and  Pierre  Menard,  Gen. 
John  Edgar,  Robert  and  William  Morrison,  James  O'Hara, 
Richard  Lord,  and  a  few  others,  being  heavy  owners. 

Unlike  most  pioneers,  he  did  not  engage  in  promiscuous 
pursuits,  as  trading  with  the  Indians,  hunting  and  trap- 
ping, cultivating  the  soil,  merchandising,  and  so  forth,  but 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
in  which  he  was  very  able,  and  to  politics,  in  which  he 
was  as  accomplished  as  he  was  influential,  and  cut  an 
important  figure.  He  very  soon  acquired  and  always  con- 
tinued to  enjoy  an  extensive  and  lucrative  law -practice, 
and  this  professional  success  combined  with  his  reputation 
as  a  classical  scholar,  as  a  man  of  varied  and  extensive 
learning,  of  practical  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs,  and 
of  great  ambition,  coupled  with  a  mental  activity  and  an 
energy  of  character  equally  remarkable,  soon  placed  him 
among  the  most  prominent  men  in  a  country  where  those 
of  his  qualifications  and  qualities  were  the  exception  and 
not  the  rule.  As  such  a  character  he  was  found  by  John 
Gibson,  secretary  of  the  newly-formed  Indiana  Territory, 
on  his  arrival  at  Vincennes,  in  July,  1800.  With  Mr.  Gib- 
son he  early  formed  a  close  personal  and  political  friend- 
ship, and  similar  relations  immediately  grew  up  between 


A, 


£j 


ULISYS 

N I  Man  ■■••■•»«• 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


105 


:he  early 
>  well  as 
:st.  The 
siderable 
[her  civil 
t  to  hold 
is  likely- 
ice  Jones 
liereto,  in 
IS  well  as 
housands 
400  acres 
ard,  Gen. 
^  O'Hara, 
lers. 

)miscuous 
ind  trap- 
forth,  but 
rofession. 
which  he 
d   cut  an 
vays  con- 
-  practice, 
eputation 
extensive 
fairs,  and 
y  and  an 
iced  him 
ere  those 
3tion  and 
by  John 
erritory, 
Mr.  Gib- 
1  friend- 
between 


him  and  Gov.  William  Henry  Harrison,  after  the  arrival 
of  the  latter,  in  January,  1801,  to  assume  the  administra- 
tion of  territorial  affairs. 

Gov.  Harrison  at  once  recognized  his  abilities,  and  in 
the  latter  part  of  January  or  early  in  February,  commis- 
sioned him  attorney-general  of  the  Territory,  the  first  civil 
office  ever  held  by  Mr.  Jones,  so  far  as  we  are  informed. 
We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  historians  that  John  Rice 
Jones  not  only  enjoyed  the  political  confidence  of  Gov. 
Harrison,  but  that  their  personal  relations  were  of  a  very 
intimate  nature,  and  that  Mr.  Jones  exercised  a  by  no 
means  inconsiderable  influence  as  an  adviser  of  the  gov- 
ernor up  to  the  time  of  their  rupture,  in  1807-8.  He 
continued  attorney-general  until  the  date  'a  his  appoint- 
ment as  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislative  council,  in 
February  or  March,  1805,  and  therefore  filled  the  former 
otifice  for  a  period  of  exactly  four  years. 

In  December,  1802,  there  convened  at  Vincennes  the 
famous  slavery  convention  of  that  year,  which,  outside  of 
the  general  assembly,  was  the  first  public  body  of  a  univer- 
sally representative  character  to  formally  discuss  the  deli- 
cate question  in  all  its  bearings,  and  to  lay  the  sentiments 
and  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  entire 
territory  before  congress.  The  delegates,  twelve  in  num- 
ber, were  chosen  by  the  people  in  a  regular  election,  held, 
pursuant  to  proclamation  of  the  governor,  simultaneously 
in  the  several  counties,  and,  of  course,  represented  the 
predominating  sentiment  of  their  respective  constituen- 
cies. The  members  "ranked  among  the  most  intelligent 
and  public-spirited  men  of  the  Territory,"  and  were  Gov. 
Harrison,  Col.  Francis  Vigo,  Wm.  Prince,  Luke  Decker, 
Pierre  Menard,  Robert  Reynolds,  Robert  Morrison,  Jean 
PVan^ois  Perry,  Shadrach  Bond,  Maj.  John  Moredock,  and, 
it  is  thought,  Davis  Floyd  and  'Villiam  Biggs.  Theirs  are 
;now  historic  names,  and  all  weic  strong  pro-slavists  except 


g^ 


r 


1 06 


EARLY   ILLINOiS. 


<       J 


H 


the  last  two,  or  whoever  were  the  two  representatives  from 
Clark  County. 

Gov.  Harrison  was  president  and  John  Rice  Jones  secre- 
tary of  this  convention,  which  continued  in  session  eight 
days,  and  on  the  last  day,  December  28,  agreed  on  a 
memorial  and  petition,  probably  the  work  of  the  skilful,, 
able,  and  fluent  pen  of  their  secretary,  to  congress.  They 
prayed  for  the  suspension  for  ten  years  of  the  sixth  article 
of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  "the  Magna  Charta  of  the  West," 
which  prohibited,  but  did  not  prevent,  slavery  in  the  ter- 
ritory; and  among  many  things,  recommended  Gov.  Har- 
rison for  reappointment  and  John  Rice  Jones  for  chief- 
justice  of  the  territorial  court.  Only  two  of  the  requests 
were  granted:  that  for  the  payment  of  a  salary  to  the 
attorney-general — to  which  office,  then  held  as  from  the 
first  by  John  Rice  Jones,  it  is  presumed  fees  had  been 
attached — and  that  for  the  right  of  preemptir  i  to  actual 
settlers  on  public  lands. 

John  Rice  Jones  strongly  favored  the  advance  of  the 
territory  to  the  second  grade,  or  representative  form,  and 
used  his  influence  toward  the  accomplishment  of  that  end, 
which  was  achieved  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  of  the  freeholders  of  the  territory  at  the  elec- 
tion held  September  11,  1804,  Members  of  the  house  of 
representatives  were  chosen  at  the  election  of  January  3 
following,  and  that  body  convened  at  Vincennes  on  Feb- 
ruary I,  and,  in  accordance  with  law,  nominated  for  coun- 
cillors ten  men  whose  names  were  forwarded  to  President 
Jefferson,  for  him  to  select  from  them  those  of  five  men 
to  compose  the  legislative  council.  The  president  returned 
five  commissions  with  the  spaces  for  names  left  blank,  with 
instructions  to  Gov.  Harrison  to  choose  out  of  the  ten 
nominees  the  five  best  fitted,  in  the  governor's  opinion,  for 
the  responsible  offices,  rejecting  "land-jobbers,  dishonest 
men,  and  those  who,  though  honest,  might  suffer  them- 


:^.,  i 


mk 


ULtSYS 


JOHN   RICE  JONKS. 


107 


Ltives  from 

Dnes  secre- 
ision  eight 
reed  on  a 
the  skilful^ 
ess.     They 
ixth  article 
the  West," 
in  the  ter- 
Gov.  Har- 
5  for  chief- 
le  requests 
iary  to  the 
.s  from  the 
5  had  been 
'  i  to  actual 

ince  of  the 
e  form,  and 
)f  that  end, 
andred  and 
at  the  elec- 
le  house  of 
January  3 
les  on  Feb- 
for  coun- 
o  President 
Df  five  men 
nt  returned 
blank,  with 
of  the  ten 
opinion,  for 
dishonest 
uffer  them- 


selves to  be  warped  by  party  prejudices."  Those  selected, 
one  for  each  county,  were  John  Rice  Jones,  Benjamin 
Chambers,  Samuel  Gwathmey,  John  Hay,  and  Pierre 
Menard,  all  assuredly  able  men,  whose  superiors  intellect- 
ually and  morally  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find 
anywhere. 

John  Rice  Jones  was  appointed  from  Knox  County,  the 
seat  of  government  of  which  was  also  the  territorial  capi- 
tal, Vincennes,  and  continued  its  representative  in  the 
council  until  October  26,  1808,  when  the  governor,  for 
reasons  that  appeared  to  him  sufficient,  permanently  dis- 
solved the  general  assembly — an  act  that  was  premature, 
in  that  it  left  no  authorized  body  to  organize  the  first 
legislature  of  the  new  Indiana  Territory,  as  contemplated 
by  law,  and  rendered  special  congressional  legislation  nec- 
essary in  the  matter. 

During  the  second  and  last  session  of  the  second  general 
assembly,  which  was  the  last  held  under  the  old  organiza- 
tion, ana  which  second  session  began  on  September  26, 
1808,  and  continued  exactly  one  month,  John  Rice  Jones 
was  president  of  the  legislative  council,  the  three  preced- 
ing sessions  of  that  body  having  been  presided  over  by 
Benjamin  Chambers.  Immediately  after  the  expiration 
of  his  service  as  councillor,  extending  over  a  period  of 
some  three  years  and  seven  months,  John  Rice  Jones 
removed  to  Kaskaskia,  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
newly-erected  Illinois  Territory,  whither  he  had  removed 
from  Vincennes  in  1790  and  where  he  continued  to  reside 
till  about  the  beginning  of  1801,  when  he  returned  to 
Vincennes.  His  son,  Rice  Jones,  had  located  at  Kaskas- 
kia in  the  practice  of  law  in  1806,  and  had  become  very 
prominent  politically,  having  in  the  election  of  July,  1808, 
been  chosen  to  represent  Randolph  County  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  general  assembly,  which  office  he  continued 
to  hold  till  the  dissolution  of  the  legislature  in  October 


io8 


KAKLV    ILLINOIS. 


» 


P! 


following,  as  before  mentioned.  John  Rice  Jones  contin- 
ued to  make  his  home  in  Kaskaskia,  after  his  removal 
thither  in  the  fall  of  1808,  till  his  removal  to  St.  Louis 
some  two  years  later. 

In  1805,  a  memorial  to  congress  in  favor  of  domestic 
slavery  in  a  modified  form  and  against  a  division  of  the 
Territory  was  introduced  into  the  general  assembly,  but 
defeated;  not  on  the  slavery  question,  for  both  houses 
were  overwhelmingly  pro-slavery,  but  because  a  majority 
of  the  representatives  in  the  lower  house  were  friends  of 
division.  A  petition  embodying  the  slavery  part  of  the 
memorial  was  afterward  signed  by  a  large  majority  of  the 
members  of  both  houses,  in  a  non-representative  capacity, 
and  duly  forwarded  to  Delegate  Benjamin  Parke  in  con- 
gress. Among  the  signers  was  John  Rice  Jones,  a  consist- 
ent pro-slavist,  whose  name,  it  appears,  was  affixed  to 
various  memorials  and  petitions  presented  to  congress  at 
different  times  in  favor  of  the  temporary  abrogation  of 
the  much-discussed  sixth  article  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787, 
but  who,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  discovered,  was  neither 
a  fanatic  on  the  subject  nor  a  holder  of  slaves,  though  he 
was  abundantly  able,  as  a  man  of  wealth,  to  be  an  exten- 
sive owner.     [See  note  on  page  139.] 

If  it  was  a  heinous  crime  to  advocate  the  legal  suspen- 
sion, by  act  of  the  supreme  legislative  body  of  the  Nation, 
of  the  slavery-debarring  provision  of  the  ordinance  under 
which  the  territories  came  into  being,  what  was  it  to  hold 
and  traffic  in  negro  bondsmen,  in  direct  violation  of  an 
existing  law,  though  that  law  was  questionable  as  in  itself 
a  violation  of  three  antedating  promises  and  guarantees 
most  solemnly  made }  Yet  a  great  majority  of  the  fore- 
most men  in  the  territories  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  were 
slave-holders  —  men  equally  conspicuous  for  their  intelli- 
gence, patriotism,  and  social  respectability,  as  well  as  for 
their  political  prominence. 


-I 


ULISYS 

MIIWHMai 


JOHN    RICE  JONKS. 


109 


les  contin- 

s  removal 

St.  Louis 

r  domestic 
ion  of  the 
jmbly,  but 
>th  houses 
1  majority 

friends  of 
lart  of  the 
rity  of  the 
e  capacity, 
ke  in  con- 
,  a  consist- 
affixed  to 
:ongress  at 
ogation  of 
:e  of  1787, 

as  neither 
though  he 

an  exten- 

al  suspen- 
le  Nation, 
nee  under 
it  to  hold 
ion  of  an 
as  in  itself 

uarantees 
the  fore- 

nois  were 
?ir  intelli- 

ell  as  for 


Among  the  leading  public  men  besides  John  Rice  Jones 
who  were  pronounced  pro-slavists,  were  such  characters  as 
Gov.  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  Secretary  John  Gibson,  Dele- 
gate, afterward  Judge,  Henjamin  Parke,  councillors  Benja- 
min Chambers.  Pierre  Menard,  Robert  Reynolds,  Samuel 
Gwathmey,  and  John  Hay;  Col.  PVancis  Vigo,  Judge 
Jesse  H.  Thomas,  Hon.  Shadrach  Bond,  Gen.  John  Kdgar, 
Gen.  Washington  Johnston,  Judge  John  Johnson,  and  hun- 
dreds of  other  eminent  public  characters,  extending  down 
to  the  time  of  and  including  such  men  as  Gov.  Ninian 
Edwards,  Judge  Nathaniel  Pope,  Hon.  Sidney  Breese, 
Sccretary-of-State  Elias  Kent  Kane,  and,  in  short,  almost 
every  man  of  public  note  throughout  the  Indiana  and 
Illinois  territorial  periods,  and  many  for  long  years  after 
the  admission  of  Indiana  into  the  Union. 

Such  were  the  exalted  public  and  private  virtues  of  these 
men  that  they  were  then  good  enough  company  for  any- 
body, whatever  his  pretensions  to  moral  worth,  intellectual 
attainments,  or  patriotism,  to  be  in,  and  however  such 
company  might  now  be  esteemed  by  a  more  virtuous  age. 
All  these  men  went  to  their  graves  honest  believers  in  the 
perfect  propriety  of  slavery,  and  while  the  institution  as  a 
political  establishment  has  since  been  forever  abolished  by 
constitutional  amendment  and  swallowed  up  in  an  ocean 
of  precious  blood,  shed  in  part  by  some  of  those  men's 
descendants,  arrayed  against  one  another  in  the  deadly 
strife  of  fratricidal  war,  it  is  alone  the  province  of  that 
Judge  before  whom  they  have  been  called,  as  all  others 
must  be,  to  pass  judgment  upon  their  *'ihiquity"  as  abso- 
'  lutely  conscientious  upholders  of  a  principle  and  practice 
':heir  opponents  could  not  possibly  more  honestly  condemn. 

Amid  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  councillor,  his  activ- 
ity in  politics,  his  attention  to  his  profe.ssional  business, 
always  large,  and  to  priv.ite  affairs,  and  his  domestic  con- 
cerns as  well,  John    Rice  Jones  still   found  the  time   to 


If 


I  10 


EARLY    ILLINOIS. 


^f. 


revise  and  prepare  for  publication — in  conjunction  with 
Hon.  John  Johnson,  another  able  lawyer  and  a  member  of 
the  house — the  statutes  of  the  Territory,  under  the  follow- 
ing title:  "Laws  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  comprising  those 
Acts  formerly  in  force  and  as  Revised  by  John  Rice  Jones 
and  John  Johnson,  and  passed  (after  Amendments)  by  the 
Legislature;  and  the  Original  Acts  passed  by  the  First 
Session  of  the  Second  General  Assembly  of  the  said  Ter- 
ritory, begun  and  held  at  the  Borough  of  Vincennes  on 
the  1 6th  day  of  August,  A.D.  1807."  This  revision  had 
been  adopted  by  the  general  assembly  with  but  trifling 
amendment,  "was  a  careful  and  thorough  one,"  says  Judge 
Howe,*  and  was  long  the  main  substance  of  the  statute 
laws  of  both  Indiana  and  Illinois. 

In  an  act  passed  by  the  general  legislature  in  1807,  in- 
corporating the  Vincennes  University,  now  represented  by 
both  the  Vincennes  University  at  Vincennes  and  the  Indi- 
ana State  University  at  Bloomington,  "for  the  instruction 
of  youth  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  English  lan- 
guages, mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  ancient  and 
modern  history,  moral  philosophy,  logic,  rhetoric,  and  the 
law  of  nature  and  nations,"  John  Rice  Jones,  who  had 
been  one  of  its  most  zealous  promoters,  as  would  be 
naturally  expected  from  one  of  his  broad  education,  was 
named  as  one  of  the  first  board  of  trustees,  which  was 
composed  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  Thomas  T.  Davis, 
John  Gibson,  Henry  Vanderburgh,  Waller  Taylor,  Benja- 
jamin  Parke,  Peter  Jones,  James  Johnson,  John  BadoUet,. 
John  Rice  Jones,  George  Wallace,  William  Bullitt,  Elias. 
McNamee,  Henry  Hurst,  Gen.  Washington  Johnston,  Fran- 
cis Vigo,  Jacob  Kuykendall,  Samuel  McKee,  Nathaniel 
Ewing,  George  Leach,  Luke  Decker,  Samuel  Gwathmey, 
and  John  Johnson"!* — "rnen  who  had  large  and  liberal  ideas 

*  Howe's  "The  Laws  and  Courts  of  the  Northwest  and  Indiana  Territories. " 
t  Dillon's  "History  of  Indiana." 


-t 


•   !•«    MM    M») 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


Ill 


iction  with 

member  of 

the  follow- 

rising  those 

Rice  Jones 

mts)  by  the 

y  the  First 

le  said  Ter- 

ncennes  on 

evision  had 

but  trifling 

says  Judge 

the  statute 

in  1807,  in- 
resented  by 
id  the  Indi- 
i  instruction 
nglish  lan- 
.ncient    and 
ric,  and  the 
who  had 
would   be 
ication,  was 
which  was 
5  T.  Davis, 
lor,  Benja- 
n  BadoUet, 
illitt,  Eli  as 
ston,  Fran- 
Nathaniel 
wathmey, 
beral  ideas 

lia  Territories. " 


of  education,  and  who  reflected  the  true  spirit  of  the 
framers  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787." 

An  important  piece  of  business  to  come  before  the 
second  .session  of  the  second  general  assembly,  begun 
September  26,  1808,  was  the  election  of  a  successor  to 
J  Ion.  Benjamin  Parke,  who  had  resigned  as  delegate  in 
congress  to  accept  a  seat  on  the  territorial  supreme  judici- 
ary bench.  Prominent  among  the  prospective  candidates 
before  the  legislature  was  John  Rice  Jones,  who  had  been 
solicited  by  a  great  many  friends  an»;  admirers  to  enter 
the  contest.  Local  politics  had  become  many  sided  and 
decidedly  mixed;  there  were  both  pro-slavists  and  anti- 
slavists  who  were  opposed  to  division,  and  also  members 
of  each  of  those  factions  who  were  in  favor  of  that  meas- 
ure; and  in  this  state  of  affairs  the  selection  of  a  delegate 
was  sure  to  be  a  prolonged  fight,  though  the  divisionists' 
success  was  assured.  As  an  able  man  and  an  ardent  friend 
of  division,  John  Rice  Jones  was  "the  favorite  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Illinois  country,  but  the  anti-slavery  people 
would  not  support  him  because  he  had  long  been  identi- 
fied with  the  Harrison  party,  and  was  a  pronounced  pro- 
slavery  man."* 

Among  other  leading  candidates  was  Speaker-of-the- 
house  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  who,  though  no  less  an  out-and- 
out  pro-slavist  than  divisionist,  was  finally  compromised 
on  by  the  antagonistic  elements  of  his  party,  and  elected ; 
but  not  before  John  Rice  Jones,  who  as  president  of  the 
council  or  as  a  controller  of  other  men's  votes,  evidently 
held  the  balance  e^  power,  had,  conditional  to  his  support 
of  Speaker  Thomas,  required  and  extracted  from  him  the 
most  solemn  pledges  of  fidelity  to  his  party.*t*  Remaining 
true  to  these  promises,  Delegate  Thomas  worked  for  and 
speedily  secured  the  division  of  the  Territory,  to  the  hu- 

*  Dunn's  "Indiana." 

t  Dunn's  "  Indiana,"  and  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois." 


BT 


I  12 


KAKLV    ILMXOIS. 


miliiition  of  the  Harrisonians,  whose  chagrin  and  rancor 
led  at  Vincennes  to  the  hanging  in  effigy  of  the  offending 
delegate.  At  Kaskaskia  the  feeling  was  equally  bad,  and 
produced  among  other  serious  incidents  the  passing  of  a 
challenge  between  Hon.  Shadrach  liond,  afterward  gov- 
ernor of  Illinois,  and  Rice  Jones,  ex-representative  in  the 
territorial  legislature  of  Indiana,  and  a  son  of  ex-councillor 
John  Rice  Jones,  and  finally  ended  in  the  deplorable  assas- 
sination of  Rice  Jones  by  a  dastardly  partisan,  who  by 
instant  flight  from  the  country  undoubtedly  saved  himself 
from  summary  punishment  at  the  hands  of  an  enraged 
community.* 

Reference  having  been  made  heretofore  to  the  rupture 
between  VVm.  Henry  Harrison  and  John  Rice  Jones,  and 
several  historians  deeming  it  a  subject  of  sufficient  interest 
to  the  public  of  today  to  call  for  more  or  less  extended 
observations  on  their  part,  a  few  words  on  the  subject  will 
not  be  inappropriate  in  this  sketch.  One  writer,  whose 
strong  prejudices,  if  not  malicious  motives,  are  evident, 
predicating  a  theory  upon  what  later  and  obviously  'uore 
just  and  careful  historians  consider  imaginary  grounds,  for 
they  declare  that  there  is  no  documentary  evidence  as  to 
what  the  real  cause  of  the  falling -out  was,  refers  the 
"important  event,"  as  a  judicious  vvriter*f  terms  it,  to  dis- 
appointment on  the  part  of  John  Rice  Jones,  growing  out 
of  his  failure  to  secure  the  bestowal  of  greater  patronage 
of  Gov.  Harrison ;  and  then  in  the  same  spirit  this  amiable 
writer  proceeds  to  say  that  John  Rice  Jones  made  it  appear 
that  the  ostensible  reason  for  his  disagreement  with  and 
consequent  opposition  to  Harrison  was  a  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  expediency  of  the  advance  of  the  Ter- 
ritory to  the  second  grade  of  government  as  early  as  that 
step  was  consummated. 

*  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois." 
t  JJunn,  in  his  "Indiana." 


^.ISYS 


lollN    RICK    lONES. 


I  I  ^ 


and  rancor 
e  offend in<; 
ly  bad,  and 
assing  of  a 
rward  gov- 
itive  in  the 
<-councillor 
rable  assas- 
an,  who  by 
ved  himself 
an   enraged 

the  rupture 
;  Jones,  and 
ient  interest 
5S  extended 
subject  will 
Titer,  whose 
are  evident, 
iously  more 
grounds,  for 
dence  as  to 
refers   the 
IS  it,  to  dis- 
rowing  out 
r  patronage 
his  amiable 
Ide  it  appear 
t  with  and 
ifference  of 
of  the  Ter- 
,rly  as  that 


This  statement  is  palpably  false,  inasmuch  as  all  accounts 
agree  that  John  Rice  Jones  was  conspicuous  as  an  active 
and  zealous  promoter  of  the  second-grade  cause;  and  if 
further  refutation  of  the  infamous  charges,--  direct  and 
indirect,  ot  the  writer  in  question  were  needed,  it  would  be 
only  necessary  to  state  the  notorious  fact  that  for  years 
after  the  Territory  had  entered  the  secondary  form  of 
government,  its  executive  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
were  on  terms  of  close  personal  and  political  friendship,  as 
reputable  historians  declare,  and  as  is  incontrovertibly 
proven  by  Gov.  Harrison's  appointment  of  John  Rice 
Jones  to  high  office  in  those  later  years,i-  as  also  by  the 
testimony  to  their  cordial  relations  up  to  a  date  so  late  as 
1807-8,  by  other  writers  on  Indiana  history  wko  have 
anything  to  say  on  the  subject. :J: 

To  the  writer  of  these  pages,  the  most  simple,  reason- 
able, and  natural  explanation  of  the  rupture  between  Gov. 
Harrison  and   Councillor  Jones  was  the  question   of  the 

*  To  asperse  and  misrepresent  a  living  man  on  the  anonymous  charges  ami 
msinuations  made  against  him  by  a  partisan  foe  during  the  excitement  of  a 
heated  political  period,  or  by  a  personal  enemy  at  any  time,  is  bad  cnovigh ; 
but  to  assault  the  character  and  violate  the  memory  of  a  man  long  dead 
through  the  mediumship  of  just  such  irresponsible  and  infamous  attacks,  is 
infinitely  worse,  is  the  part  of  neither  an  honorable  man  nor  a  gentleman,  but 
rather  that  of  a  vile  traducer,  and  should  be  far  beneath  the  dignity  of  anyone 
making  pretensions  to  the  claim  of  being  an  historian.  In  reference  to  such 
slanders,  a  man's  friends  may  pointedly  ask,  in  the  words  of  Hon.  Kdward 
Kverett,  in  a  speech  once  delivered  by  him  in  the  national  house  of  represen- 
tatives, "can  any  gentleman  tell  me  how  long  it  is  since  an  anonymous  mis- 
creant, in  the  papers,  accused  Thomas  Jefferson  of  having  pillaged  thirteen 
hundred  dollars,  I  think  it  was,  from  the  public  chest?  Mas  any  gentleman 
forgotten  that  pathetic  complaint  of  George  Washington,  that  he  had  been 
assailed  in  language  fit  only  *  for  a  pick-pocket — for  a  common  defaulter  ? '  " 
Verily,  "  Be  thou  chaste  as  ice,  as  pure  as  snow, 

Thou  shalt  not  escape  calumny. " 

t  The  second  grade  of  government  was  entered  upon  September  1 1,  1S04, 
and  four  months  later  Harrison  appointed  John  Rice  Jones  a  member  of  the 
council — a  favor  he  would  hardly  have  bestowed  upon  a  political  and  personal 
enemy.  *  Dunn,  in  his  "Indiana,"  page  361,  for  instance. 


f 


114 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


division  of  the  Indiana  Territory.  This  question,  as  is 
well  known,  divided  the  people  latterly  into  violently  an- 
tagonistic factions,  whose  clashing  sentiments  on  this  one 
subject  caused  the  severing  of  personal  attachments  be- 
tween many  individuals  whose  political  opinions  on  other 
measures  were  either  in  perfect  harmony  or  temporarily 
adjustable,  but  who  were  uncompromising  on  this;  engen- 
dered wide-spread  and  all-pervading  excitement  and  par- 
tisan feeling;  produced  in  connection  with  the  indirectly- 
involved  slavery  question,  pro  and  con,  strange  combina- 
tions and  associations  of  men  and  sentiments,  and  charac- 
terized the  campaign  preceding  an  election  of  two  repre- 
sentatives to  the  general  assembly,  which  chanced  to 
become  necessary  at  "the  time,  as  the  most  animated  and 
bitter  one  that  ever  occurred  in  the  Territory,  before  or 
afterward,  or  in  that  of  Illinois.  The  successful  candidates 
for  the  legislature  in  the  el-^ction  in  question  were  Rice 
Jones  in  Randolph  County  and  John  Messinger  in  St.  Clair 
County,  both  of  whom  were  zealous  divisionists."^ 

As  has  been  intimated,  the  defeat  of  the  Harrisonians 
or  anti-divisionists  was  a  crushing  disappointment  to  them, 
for  the  results  of  the  election  placed  the  balance  of  legis- 
lative power,  by  a  slight  majority,  in  the  hands  of  the  sep- 
arationists,  and  the  loss  of  the  election  drove  the  rabid 
partisans  among  those  who  were  opposed  to  division  to 
extravagant  expressions,  actions,  and  acts,  among  the  last 
the  disgraceful  proceeding  at  Vincennes,  indicative  of  their 
despair  and  fury.  John  Rice  Jones,  who  then  lived  at 
Vincennes,  the  seat  of  the  territorial  government,  and  in 
the  county  of  Knox,  the  governor's  favorite  county  and 
the  stronghold  of  the  Harrisonians,  was  as  a  pronounced 
divisionist  and  a  distinguished  character,  douoly  conspicu- 
ous as   an  object  of  dislike  and    abuse  on   the   part  of 

*  Edwards'  "Illinois,"  p.  30;  Address  of  Welcome  by  Citizens  of  Randolph 
County  to  Gov,  Ninian  Edwards,  June,  1809. 


t 


I-* 


I   ^'W. 


ULISYS 

■  IMIIIIHIMIIMI 


JOHN    RICE   JONES. 


115 


ion,  as  IS 
lently  an- 
1  this  one 
ments  be- 
5  on  other 
;mporarily 
is;  engen- 
t  and  par- 
indirectly- 
combina- 
nd  charac- 
two  repre- 
lianced    to 
nated  and 
,  before  or 
candidates 
were  Rice 
in  St.  Clair 

•X- 

arrisonians 
it  to  them, 
:e  of  legis- 
f  the  sep- 
the  rabid 
ivision  to 
cr  the  last 
e  of  their 
lived  at 
nt,  and  in 
lunty  and 
Ironounced 
conspicu- 
|e   part  of 

of  Randolph 


many  of  those  of  opposing  sentiments.  Under  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  prevailing,  no  two  men  could  be  friends 
who  openly  avowed  and  publicly  advocated  conflicting 
views  on  the  burning  division  question,  and  therefore  John 
Rice  Jones  necessarily  experienced  a  rupture  with  Gov. 
Harrisc,  who  was,  as  is  equally  a  matter  of  record,  a 
radical  anti-divisionist,  using  all  his  personal  and  official 
influence  to  defeat  the  friends  of  the  Illinois-Territory 
project,  as  it  was  to  his  selfish  interest  to  do. 

From  the  date  of  their  first  acquaintance,  early  in 
1 80 1,  up  to  the  time  that  the  question  of  the  separation 
from  Indiana  of  the  Illinois  country  and  its  erection  into 
an  independent  territory  assumed  importance  in  the  public 
mind  and  began  to  be  seriously  agitated  among  the  peo- 
ple, which  was  probably  early  in  1807,  John  Rice  Jones 
and  Gov.  Harrison  were  personally  and  politically  inti- 
mate, and  they  continued  to  be  friends  until  probably 
about  the  middle  of  1808,  when  their  split  upon  the  rock 
of  territorial  division  became  complete,  and  very  naturally 
their  relations  afterward  were  not  amicable;  John  Rice 
Jones,  as  he  had  the  inalienable  right  to  do,  opposing,  and 
that  ably,  and  not  alone  but  with  thousands  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  the  policy  and  plans  of  the  Harrison  party,  whose 
speedy  overthrow  in  the  latter  part  of  1808  may  reasona- 
bly be  accepted  as  a  proof  of  the  weakness  and  injustice 
of  their  cause. 

John  Rice  Jones  had  not  only  been  a  personal  friend  of 
Harrison's,  but  also  an  able  and  valued  counsellor  of  the 
administration,  as  well  as  a  man  of  very  considerable  per- 
sonal influence  with  the  people  Consequently,  as  a  recent 
careful  writer*  observes,  "he  was  no  small  loss  t^>  the  Har- 
rison party.  He  was  at  that  time  a  councillor,  with  more 
than  two  years  to  serve;  he  had  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
inside  workings  of  past  political  movements;  he  had  the 

*  Dunn,  in  his  "  Indiana ;  A  Redemption  from  Slavery. " 


ii6 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


li 


ability  to  use  his  knowledge  to  the  best  advantage;  and 
he  was  absolutely  tireless  in  his  political  work."  We  thus 
see  that  he  was  qualified  to  make  a  powerful  opponent  of 
the  Harrisonians,  and  indeed  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that 
he  and  other  leaders  of  the  opposition  "goaded  their  ene- 
mies almost  to  madness,"  and  also  gathered  the  people  in 
such  numbers  to  their  support  as  to  defeat  the  Harrison 
party  in  the  memorable  election  of  July  25,  1808,  which 
gained  for  the  victors  their  coveted  object  of  territorial 
division,  on  February  3,  1809,  by  congressional  enactment. 

From  an  early  day  to  the  time  of  his  removal,  in  18 10, 
to  Louisiana,  afterward  Missouri,  Territory,  John  Rice 
Jones  enjoyed  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  at  law, 
his  eminent  professional  ability  being  universally  recog- 
nized and  in  frequent  demand.  His  practice  extended 
from  Cahokia  to  Louisville,  embracing  besides  those  places 
Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Vincennes,  Shawneetown, 
and  Clarksville,  and  also  trans-Mississippi  points,  as  St. 
Louis  and  Ste.  Genevieve,  especially  after  the  cession  of 
that  country  to  the  United  States,  in  1803,  by  France.* 
No  writer  in  speaking  of  him  has  failed  to  pay  the  highest 
tribute  to  his  jurisprudential  learning  and  ability,  all  agree- 
ing with  one  who  has  declared  him  "a  scientific  and  pro- 
found jurist,  and  through  life  a  sound  and  enlightened 
expounder  of  the  law;"  and  his  contemporary  political 
and  personal  enemies,  like  his  post-mortem  defamer,  all 
conceded  his  preeminent  talents  and  legal  attainments. 
He  was  the  first  English-speaking  lawyer  in  Indiana,  and 
the  first  to  practise  his  profession  in  Illinois,  locating  at 
Kaskaskia  in  1790,  and  frequently  attending  court  there 
and  at  other  extreme  western  points  after  his  return  to 
Vincennes,  some  ten  years  later,  to  reside. 

His  knowledge  of  various  national  laws  was  remarkably 
extensive,  embracing  not  only  a  familiarity  with  American 

*  Reynolds,  Dillon,  Dunn,  d  al. 


^_  jij** 


ULISYS 

N  lINi  n  NM  mm  w  »»  mi  m  wii  <■ 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


117 


ntage;  and 
'     We  thus 
)pponent  of 
record  that 
i  their  ene- 
le  people  in 
le  Harrison 
1808,  which 
if  territorial 
[  enactment, 
val,  in  1 8 10, 
John    Rice 
ctice  at  law, 
sally  recog- 
;e  extended 
those  places 
lawneetown, 
oints,  as  St. 
e  cession  of 
by  France.* 
the  highest 
y,  all  agree- 
|fic  and  pro- 
enlightened 
,ry  political 
defamer,  all 
lattainments. 
ndiana,  and 
|,  locating  at 
court  there 
lis  return  to 

remarkably 
Ih  American 


principles  and  procedure,  but  also  a  thorough  acquaintance 
with  Spanish  and  French  laws,  particularly  concerning  the 
intricate  subjects  of  land-grants  and  titles  in  the  West; 
while  as  a  consequence  of  his  legal  education  and  practice 
in  England  and  Wales,  he  had  a  clear  and  full  understand- 
ing of  the  principles  and  rules  of  law  and  courts  of  those 
countries,  as  references  in  some  of  his  opinions  as  a  justice 
of  the  supreme  court  of  Missouri  in  a  measure  bear  witness.* 
In  addition  to  his  legal  erudition,  he  was  deeply  versed 
in  mathematics,  "which  he  preferred  to  any  other  science," 
and  was  also  an  accomplished  linguist,  thoroughly  grounded 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  perfectly  conversant  with  French 
and  Spanish,  as  well  as  Welsh — his  mother-tongue — and 
English,  learned  early  in  life.  His  knowledge  of  French 
and  Spanish  enabled  him  to  transact  business  with  great 
facility  with  the  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
far-western  country  who  understood  only  those  tongues, 
and  who  did  not  often  find  a  competent  interpreter  in  their 
dealings  with  the  English-speaking  authorities  and  Ameri- 
cans in  general.  His  intimate  and  correct  knowledge  of 
the  latter  two  languages  was  not  only  of  very  great  advan- 
tage to  him  in  his  law  practice  and  private  business  affairs, 
but  caused  his  services  to  be  often  sought  as  an  expert 
translator  of  old  documents  and  interpreter  in  courts  for 
non-English  speaking  people.  He  was  for  some  time 
official  interpreter  and  translator  of  the  PVench,  by  regular 
appointment,  to  the  board  of  commissioners  at  Kaskaskia, 
appointed  under  act  of  congress  of  March  26,  1804,  for 
the  adjustment  of  land  titles  and  claims  in  that  district.-f- 
All  historians  also  agree  that  he  was  a  brilliant  speaker, | 
and  in  oral  debate  and  controversy,  as  also  with  the  pen, 

*  See  "Missouri  Reports,"  1820-24. 

t  "Annals  of  Congress,"  15th  cony.,  2d  sess. ,  Vols.  I  and  II;  also  "United 
.States  Statutes  at  Large — Private  Laws,  1789  1845." 

i  Reynolds,  Williams,  McOonoiigh,  Dunn,  e(  a/. 


Hi 


w 

il 


ii8 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


"a  perfect  master  of  satire  and  invective."  One  who  knew 
him  personally  declares  that  while  ''his  friendships  were 
ardent  and  sincere,  his  hatred  and  anger  were  excessively 
scathing  for  the  moment,"  and  that  "when  his  feelings  of 
ire  were  excited,  his  words  burnt  his  victims  like  drops  of 
molten  lead  on  the  naked  skin."  " 

In  December,  1808,  occurred  that  melancholy  event  here- 
tofore alluded  to,  the  assassination  of  Rice  Jones,  the 
talented  son  of  John  Rice  Jones,  at  Kaskaskia.  This 
lamentable  tragedy,  abput  which  we  shall  have  more  to 
say  in  a  sketch  of  its  victim,  was  a  terrible  blow  to  his 
father,  as  may  be  easily  understood,  and  its  associations  in 
Illinois  were  of  such  a  sickening  nature  as  to  render  a 
continued  residence  there  objectionable.  At  this  time,  the 
upper  Louisiana  Territory,  rapidly  developing  under  the 
quickening  influence  of  the  United  States  government, 
but  a  few  years  previously  extended  over  it,  was  attracting 
very  considerable  attention  and  emigration  from  the  older 
settled  sections  eastward;  and  in  the  summer  of  18 10,  in 
response  to  the  earnest  recommendation  and  urgent  invi- 
tation of  personal  friends,  Mr.  Jones  removed  thither  with 
his  family,  first  locating  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  thence  in  a 
short  time  going  to  St.  Louis,  and  after  a  brief  residence 
there,  removing  to  and  settling  at  Mine  a  Breton,  subse- 
quently incorporated  as  Potosi,  and  which  became  the  seat 
of  Washington  County  on  its  organization  in  18 13. 

Here  he  at  once  became  largely  interested  and  system- 
atically engaged  in  the  mining  and  smelting  of  lead  ore. 
first  in  company  with  the  celebrated  Moses  Austin  and 
subsequently  in  connection  with  his  sons.  With  Mr.  Aus- 
tin he  erected  the  first  cupola  or  rcverberatory  furnace 
ever  constructed  in  the  United  States,*  which  was  grcatl\ 
superior  to  the  primitive  furnace  that  had  been  in  use  in 
the   mines  since  the  time  they  were  first  opened,  about 

*  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois." 


rfMlk 


flt-^ 


■  I  mi  II  Mi  i 


I ir: IN  Mill* 


JOHN    RICE    TONES. 


119 


2  who  knew 
iships  were 
excessively 
i  feelings  of 
ike  drops  of 

r  event  here- 
Jones,  the 
askia.     This 
ave  more  to 
blow  to  his 
isociations  in 
to  render  a 
this  time,  the 
ig  under  the 
government, 
/as  attracting 
rom  the  older 
;r  of  1 8 10,  in 
urgent  invi- 
thither  with 
thence   in   a 
lief  residence 
keton,  subse- 
came  the  seat 

1813. 

and  system - 
g  of  lead  ore, 
s  Austin  antl 
V\t\\  Mr.  Aus- 
atory   furnace 

1  was  greatl)" 
been  in  use  in 
Dpened,  about 


1765,  by  Francis  Breton,  as  well  as  throughout  all  the 
lead-mining  districts  in  the  country.  He  probably  brought 
with  him  from  Wales,  in  a  large  part  of  which  mining  of 
different  kinds  was  then  as  now  an  important  industry, 
some  practical  ideas  on  the  subject. 

The  learned  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  visited  the  Potosi 
mines  in  18 19,  and  in  an  interesting  work*  published 
shortly  afterward,  in  describing  the  more  important  mines 
operated  by  "persons  of  intelligence  and  capital,"  says: 
"John  Rice  Jones,  Esq.,  is  engaged  in  penetrating  the  rock 
in  search  of  ore,  with  the  most  flattering  prospects,  and  is 
determined,  as  he  informs  me,  to  sink  through  the  upper 
stratum  of  limestone  and  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the 
succeeding  formations.  It  is  highly  probable,  reasoning 
from  geognostic  relations,  that  the  lower  formations  will 
prove  metalliferous,  yielding  both  lead  and  copper,  and 
such  a  discovery  would  form  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
these  mines.  The  present  mode  of  promiscuous  digging 
on  the  surface  would  then  be  abandoned,  and  people  made 
to  see  and  to  realize  the  advantages  of  the  only  system 
of  mining  which  can  be  permanently,  uniformly,  and  suc- 
cessfully pursued,  vh.:  by  penetrating  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,"  The  success  of  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Jones  and 
Mr.  Austin,  each  then  operating  independently  and  being 
the  first  to  so  experiment,  had  the  effect  of  making  deep 
mining  popular,  as  predicted  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  and  more- 
over rendered  the  entire  mineral  region  a  profitable  field 
for  operations  for  many  succeeding  years. 

John  Rice  Jones'  intimate  and  critical  knowledge  of  the 
lead-mines  of  the  district,  including  their  output,  state, 
value,  characteristics,  and  the  subject  of  the  industry  in 
all  its  aspects  and  stages,  from  the  crude  ore  in  the  mines 
to  the  commercial  article  of  pig-lead,  with  the  items  of 
cost  of  manufacture,   transportation   to  foreign    markets, 

*  "A  View  of  the  Lead-Mines  of  Missouri,"  etc. ;  New  York,  1819. 


r. 


Mm 


120 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


it 


etc.,  of  the  Ir'ter,  etc.,  etc.,  is  shown  by  a  lengthy  and 
exhaustive  report  made  by  him  under  date  of  "Mine  a 
Burton,  6th  Nov.,  1816,"  to  Hon.  Frederick  Bates,  St.  Louis, 
recorder  of  land-titles  in  Missouri,  at  the  latter's  request, 
and  which  Mr.  Bates  forwarded  bodily  to  the  commissioner 
of  the  general  land-office,  Washington,  as  his  own  report 
on  the  subject,  which  had  been  called  for  by  the  commis- 
sioner; Mr.  Bates'  report  proper  being  a  brief  communica- 
tion opening  thus:  "Sir: — While  I  was  preparing  to  trans- 
mit to  you  my  own  opinions  in  answer  to  your  inquiries 
of  the  3d  of  July  last  [18 16],  I  received  a  letter  from  John 
Rice  Jones,  Esq.,  who  is  a  man  of  extensive  and  accurate 
observation,  joint  claimant  with  Mr.  Austin  in  the  Mine  a 
Burton  tract,  and  conversant,  as  I  am  told,  with  all  the 
economy  of  mineral  operations.  After  so  minute  and 
comprehensive  a  statement  as  he  has  given,  nothing  re- 
mains for  me  except  a  more  special  reply  to  your  third 
inquiry."  This  third  inquiry  related  to  the  "state  of  the 
land-titles  generally,"  which  Mr.  Jones  forebore  to  answer, 
"as  it  would  be  indecorous  for  an  individual,  even  were  he 
both  competent  to  the  task  and  possessed  of  the  necessary 
information,  to  attempt  to  enter  into  a  particular  investi- 
gation of  any  land-titles,"  as  he  states  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Bates.* 

John  Rice  Jones  became  largely  interested  in  mineral 
lands  and  other  landed  property  while  residing  at  Mine  a 
Burton.  By  a  legal  instrument  dated  at  "Mine  a  Burton, 
District  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  Territory  of  Louisiana,  Nov.  8, 
1 8 10,"  it  appears  that  he  and  Moses  Austin  were  then 
joint  owners  of  "the  Mine  a  Breton  tract"  of  land,  "three 
miles  square"  (nine  square  miles,  or  five  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  rich  mineral  lands),  for  an 
interest  in  which  and  certain  lots  in  the  town  of  Hercula- 
neum  they  had  been  offered   $150,000,  a  large  sum  of 

*  "American  State  Papers— Public  Lands,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  700-3. 


ULIJJys 

■  IWIIIMll 


JOHN   RICE   JONES. 


121 


engthy  and 
of  "Mine  a 
;s,  St.  Louis, 
er's  request, 
ommissioner 
own  report 
the  commis- 
communica- 
ing  to  trans- 
Dur  inquiries 
2r  from  John 
ind  accurate 
1  the  Mine  a 
with  all  the 
minute   and 
,  nothing  re- 
o  your  third 
'state  of  the 
re  to  answer, 
even  were  he 
le  necessarj- 
ular  investi- 
lis  letter  to 

d  in  mineral 

ig  at  Mine  a 

ne  a  Burton, 

iana,  Nov.  8, 

n  were  then 

land,  "three 
)usand  seven 
inds),   for  an 

of  Hercula- 
arge  sum  of 

700-3. 


money  in  those  days,  and  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in 
the  extensive  mining  and  smelting  business  on  which  they 
at  that  time  were  about  to  consummate  the  formation  of 
a  powerful  chartered  corporation — the  legal  document 
named  constituting  an  important  preliminary  step  to  that 
end.  Mr,  Jones  died  leaving  a  claim  before  congress  for 
a  tract  of  several  thousand  acres  of  valuable  land  in  Illi- 
nois, on  an  appeal  from  the  arbitrary  ruling  of  the  Kas- 
kaskia  commissioners,  which  claim  was  allowed  his  legal 
representatives  so  late  as  1854. 

John  Rice  Jones,  who  soon  became  distinguished  in 
Missouri  for  his  legal  acquirements,  his  intelligence,  his 
sound  judgment,  and  his  force  of  character,  was,  as  one  of 
the  three  representatives  from  Washington  County  and 
one  of  the  forty-one  that  composed  the  body,  "a  wise  and 
<jfficient  member"  of  the  convention  that  framed  the  first 
constitution  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  The  convention  met 
in  St.  Louis  on  June  12,  1820,  and  completed  its  labors 
July  19  following.  After  its  temporary  organization,  he 
was  one  of  a  committee  of  five  appointed  "to  draft  and 
report  rules  and  regulations  for  the  order  and  government 
of  the  convention."  He  was  one  of  four  candidates  before 
the  convention  for  its  permanent  president,  and,  though 
defeated,  he  received  a  complimentary  vote  for  the  posi- 
tion. "The  constitution  was  a  model  of  perspicuity  and 
statesmanship,  and  withstood  all  efforts  to  supplant  or 
materially  amend  it  until  the  celebrated  'Drake  conven- 
tion' of  186$"^  and  as  Gov.  McNair  declared  in  his  first 
message  to  the  first  general  assembly  under  the  new  form 
of  government,  was  "a  statesmanlike  instrument  that  did 
honor  to  its  framers  and  to  the  infant  State  for  which  it 
had  been  framed." 

This  first  general  assembly  met  in  St.  Louis  in  Septem- 
ber, 1820,  and  among  its  first  and  most  important  duties 

*  Switzlei's  "History  of  Missouri." 


_Jr».- 


miasuii.!! 


SBSSraSiWMpMB 


mmmm 


I 


I  22 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


was  the  election  of  two  United- States  senators.  Hon. 
David  Barton,  a  great  and  good  man,  was  chosen  on  the 
first  ballot,  but  the  filling  of  the  remaining  senatorship 
was  not  so  easily  nor  in  the  end  unanimously  accomplished. 
For  that  honor  there  were  five  aspirants,  namely:  John 
Rice  Jones,  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Judge  John  B.  C. 
Lucas,  and  Messrs.  Henry  Elliot  and  Nathaniel  Cook, 
John  Rice  Jones  received  a  handsome  vote,  as  also  did 
Messrs.  Cook  and  Elliot;  but  it  becoming  evident  that  the 
contest  would  inevitably  narrow  down  to  a  struggle  be- 
tween Judge  Lucas  and  Col.  Benton,  who  were  mortal 
enemies,  the  latter  having  a  few  years  previously  slain  in 
a  duel  a  gifted  son  of  the  former,  the  other  three  candi- 
dates withdrew,  and  according  to  their  sentiments  joined 
the  Lucas  or  the  Benton  party.  Though  Col.  Benton  was 
finally  chosen  over  his  able  and  noble  adversary,  by  very 
considerable  manoeuvring  and  by  a  slim  majority  of  one 
vote,  the  contest  for  the  prize  was  prolonged,  spirited, 
bitter,  and  in  some  of  its  phases  intensely  dramatic,  and 
forms  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  interesting  episodes 
of  the  kind  in  the  political  history  of  the  West.  "The 
balloting  continued  through  several  days  without  success, 
and  the  excitement  that  prevailed  has  not  been  excelled 
by  any  senatorial  election  which  has  since  occurred  in  this 
or  any  other  state,"  says  one  historian.* 

Of  the  two  votes  that  elected  Col.  Benton,  one  was  that 
of  a  Frenchman,  Hon.  Marie  P.  LeDuc,  who  had  repeatedly 
declared  that  he  would  suffer  the  loss  of  his  right  arm 
rather  than  vote  for  Col.  Benton,  and  who  only  changed 
his  mind  after  subjection  for  a  prolonged  period  to  inces- 
sant argument,  persuasion,  and  entreaty  by  a  powerful 
combination  of  personal  and  political  friends;  the  other 
vote,  that  gave  the  bare  majority  of  one,  was  cast  by  Hon- 
Daniel  Ralls,  who,  unable  from  illness  to  attend  the  joint 

*  Switzler,  in  his  "History  of  Missouri." 


w.-     I 


ULISYS 

■  IMHWIMIMIK 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


123 


rs.     Hon. 
en  on  the 
^natorship 
)mplished. 
ely:    John 
ohn  B.  C. 
liel   Cook. 
3  also  did 
It  that  the 
ruggle  be- 
ire   mortal 
;ly  slain  in 
iree  candi- 
:nts  joined 
5enton  was 
ry,  by  very 
rity  of  one 
d,   spirited, 
matic,  and 
ig  episodes 
elt.     "The 
ut  success, 
m  excelled 
rred  in  this 

le  was  that 
repeatedly 
right  arm 
y  changed 
d  to  inces- 
powerful 
the  other 
st  by  Hon- 
the  joint 


session  of  the  legislature,  was  finally  carried  on  his  death- 
bed, by  four  large  negroes,  from  his  room  to  the  legislative 
hall,  both  in  the  same  building,  and  was  just  able  to  vote, 
dying  a  short  time  after  being  returned  to  his  chamber.* 

At  the  same  session  of  the  general  assembly,  John  Rice 
Jones  was  appointed  one  of  the  three  justices  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  new  State,  Mathias  McGirk  and 
John  D.  Cook  being  the  other  two;  and  after  four  years 
of  service,  alike  creditable  to  himself,  the  bench,  and  Mis- 
souri, in  this  exalted  position,  he  died  while  in  office, 
February  i,  1824,  at  St.  Louis,  within  ten  days  of  the 
completion  of  his  sixty-fifth  year,  at  which  age  the  consti- 
tution excluded  persons  from  the  supreme  bench,  and 
deeply  lamented  not  only  by  the  bench,  bar,  and  general 
public  of  Missouri,  but  by  a  wide  circle  of  personal  friends 
throughout  the  country,  among  them  many  prominent 
men  of  the  day.  Conspicuous  among  those  whose  distin- 
guished friendship  he  had  enjoyed,  were  Hon.  Henry  Clay, 
Col.  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Hon.  Pierre  Menard,  Hon.  David 
Barton,  Judge  Alex.  Buckner,  Judges  Mathias  McGirk  and 
John  D.  Cook — his  associates  on  the  supreme  bench,  Col. 
Henry  Dodge,  Hon.  Edward  Bates,  Col.  Thos.  H.  Benton, 
Hon.Wm.  T.  Barry,  Judges  Jas.  Haggins  and  Jesse  Bledsoe, 
Judge  James  H.  Peck,  Hon.  Henry  S.  Geyer,  Hon.  John 
F.  Darby,  Hon.  George  F.  Strother,  Gen.  Wm.  H.  Ashley, 
Hon.  John  Scott,  Judge  Nathaniel  Pope,  Judge  Samuel 
McRoberts,  Gov.  John  Reynolds,  Hon.  Ninian  Edwards, 
the  distinguished  Morrison  and  Parker  families  of  Kaskas- 
kia  and  Lexington,  respectively,  and  a  great  many  more, 
whose  friendship  and  esteem  would  have  honored  any 
man  on  earth.-f- 

Having  sketched  Judge  Jones'  public  career,  as  well  as 

"  Darby's  "Personal  Recollections." 

t  Letter  from  ex-U.-S.  Senator  George  Wallace  Jones,  who  personally 
knew  all  the  gentlemen  named,  and  to  whom  they  often  spoke  of  his  father^ 
Judge  John  Rice  Jones,  in  terms  of  respect  and  admiration. 


1 


V-?. 


? 


124 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


!• 


our  imperfect  data  would  admit,  it  now  remains  to  briefly 
consider  his  character  and  more  personal  traits,  from  the 
stand-point  of  those  who  knew  him  well  in  life,  and  who, 
therefore,  may  be  considered  competent  authorities  on  the 
subject.  Perhaps  no  fuller  and  more  reliable  description 
of  him  is  available  than  that  given  by  ex-Gov.  John  Reyn- 
olds of  Illinois,  in  his  valuable  "Pioneer  History."  The 
author  of  that  work  knew  Judge  Jones  personally  and  also 
was  well  acquainted  with  many  men  who  knew  him  inti- 
mately— Hon.  Robert  Reynolds,  the  governor's  father,  and 
an  old  pioneer,  among  them — and  as  an  unquestionably 
honest,  truthful  man,  a  close  observer  of  excellent  judg- 
ment, an  industrious  gleaner  of  facts,  and  a  conscientious, 
careful  historian,  his  statements  are  entitled  to  the  fullest 
credit.  This  work  of  Gov.  Reynolds  has  been  largely 
drawn  on  by  all  subsequent  western  historians  for  bio- 
graphical and  other  data  preserved  nowhere  else,  and  his 
descriptions  of  many  prominent  men  of  early  days  if  not 
all  that  is  knowable  about  them  are,  at  least,  the  founda- 
tion of  all  biographies  of  them. 

This  authority  states  that  Judge  Jones  "possessed  a 
strong  and  active  mind,  was  rather  restless,  and  excessively 
energetic.  *  *  He  always  employed  his  time  in  some 
honorable  business,  and  never  permitted  himself  to  be  idle 
or  engaged  in  light  or  frivolous  amusements.  Like  most 
of  his  countrymen,  he  possessed  strong  passions,  and  at 
times,  although  he  possessed  a  strong  mind,  his  passions 
swept  over  his  reason  like  a  tornado.  When  his  feelings 
of  ire  were  excited,  his  words  burnt  his  victims  like  drops 
of  molten  lead  on  the  naked  skin.  He  was  mild  and 
amiable  until  some  injury  or  insult,  as  he  supposed,  was 
offered  him,  when  he  burst  asunder  all  restraints  and  stood 
out  the  fearless  champion  of  his  rights,  bidding  defiance 
to  all  opposition.     He  possessed  a  great  degree  of  personal 

The  death  of  Judge  Jones  was  regretted 


courage. 


*     * 


i 

am 


ULISYS 

■  IMNWIMHMII 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


125 


;  to  briefly 
s,  from  the 
s,  and  who, 
ities  on  the 
description 
ohn  Reyn- 
ory."  The 
ly  and  also 
w  him  inti- 
father,  and 
uestionably 
illent  judg- 
nscientious, 
)  the  fullest 
een  largely 
ns  for  bio- 
Ise,  and  his 
days  if  not 
the  founda- 

ossessed  a 
excessively 
hie  in  some 
to  be  idle 
Like  most 
Dns,  and  at 
is  passions 
lis  feelings 
like  drops 
mild  and 
)posed,  was 
3  and  stood 
ig  defiance 
of  personal 
regretted 


by  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  the  public  generally.  His 
integrity,  honor,  and  honesty  were  always  above  doubt  or 
suspicion.  He  was  exemplary  in  his  moral  habits,  and 
lived  a  temperate  and  orderly  man  in  all  things.  *  *  He 
was  perfectly  resigned  to  his  fate,  and  died  with  that  calm 
composure  that  always  attends  the  exit  of  the  noblest 
work  of  God,  an  honest  man.  *  *  The  person  of  Judge 
Jones  was  small,  but  erect  and  active.  His  complexion 
was  dark,  and  his  hair  and  eyes  very  black.  His  eye  when 
excited  was  severe  and  piercing." 

We  thus  have  a  graphic  moral  and  character  portrayal 
and  a  life-like  physical  portrait  of  Judge  Jones  that  must 
be  gratifying  to  everyone  interested  in  the  dis'tinguished 
subject  of  this  sketch.  The  just  eulogistic  utterances  of 
Gov.  Reynolds  could  not  be  enhanced  by  the  most  ardent 
of  friends  and  admirers,  while  to  the  personal  description 
nothing  is  to  be  added  of  particular  historical  interest 
except,  perhaps,  that  Judge  Jones  was  very  dignified  in 
his  manners,  refined  in  his  tastes,  scrupulously  neat  in  his 
person,  and  very  particular  in  his  dress,  a  part  of  which 
was  the  old-time  knee-breeches,  so  closely  associated  in  the 
modern  mind  with  the  antique  cue,  in  which  style  he 
alwa}-s  wore  his  hair;  and  that  besides  being  erect  and 
active,  as  age  advanced  he  developed  that  style  of  portli- 
ness that  adds  so  much  to  the  dignity  of  presence  and 
manners. 

John  Rice  Jones  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Richard  and  Mary  Powell,  a  native 
of  London,  born  May  24,  1759,  and  married  in  St.  Mary's 
Chapel — Church  of  England,  to  which  both  families  be- 
longed— in  Brecon,  Wales,  January  8,  1781.  Of  this  union 
there  was  the  following  issue: 

Rice,  born  at  Brecon,  Brecknockshire,  Wales,  September 
28,  1 78 1. 

John,  born  at  Brecon,  Feb.  10,  1783,  and  died  in  infancy. 


mm 


uf^ 


?«»>**■ 


126 


EARLY    ILLINOIS. 


I 
i, 

I 


Maria,  born  at  Brecon,  March  21,  1784. 

Myers  Fisher,  born  at  Vincennes,  Northwest  Territory, 
U.S.A.,  March  1 1,  1787,  and  died  at  an  early  age. 

The  mother  of  these  children  was  an  accomplished  and 
refined  woman  of  gentle  birth,  and  died  at  Vincennes,  now 
in  Indiana,  March  1 1,  1787,  deeply  mourned  by  her  devoted 
husband  and  children.  A  biographical  sketch  of  Rice 
Jones,  the  eldest  child  by  this  marriage,  follows  in  this 
volume. 

Maria,  the  only  daughter,  who  was  at  the  time  of  the 
removal  of  the  family  to  America,  in  1784,  too  delicate,  as 
declared  by  a  medical  adviser,  to  bear  the  fatigue  of  the 
long  ocean  voyage,  was  left  with  friends  in  Wales.  It  was 
the  father's  intention  to  return  for  her  when  older  and 
stronger,  but  the  early  location  of  the  family  in  the  remote 
West,  and  the  death  there  of  her  mother  a  short  time 
afterward,  precluded  the  execution  of  this  cherished  pur- 
pose while  she  remained  a  child,  and  when  she  was  old 
enough  to  make  the  journey  alone,  she  had  become  .so 
beloved  and  loving  a  member  of  the  most  estimable  family 
with  whom  she  made  her  home  as  to  induce  her  to  con- 
tinue a  member  of  that  household,  though  .she  subse- 
quently paid  several  protracted  visits  to  her  relatives  in 
America,  between  whom  and  herself  there  ever  subsisted 
the  tenderest  attachment.  In  1834,  her  half-brother  Wil- 
liam Powell  Jones,  U.  S.  N.,  viiiied  her  in  Wales,  subse- 
quently accompanied  her  on  a  tour  in  France,  and  thence 
conducted  her  to  the  United  States.  Her  deep  and  fer- 
vent piety  and  genuine  Christian  spirit,  combined  with  a 
charming  sweetness  of  disposition,  great  nobility  of  char- 
acter, and  cultivated  intellect,  secured  her  many  devoted 
and  undying  friendships  wherever  she  was  known.  She 
never  married,  and  died  among  relatives  and  friends  in 
London  at  an  advanced  age. 

The   second   wife   of   Judge   Jones   was    Mary,   eldest 


.1  'MW' 


f. 


ULiSYS 

■  I M  H  M  MMB  Ml  ■«  w.i  ■•■  • 


JOHN    KICK   JONKS. 


12; 


Territory, 

e, 

lishcd  and 
^nnes,  now 
er  devoted 
h  of  Rice 
»\vs  in  this 

ime  of  the 
delicate,  as 
igue  of  the 
les.     It  was 
older  and 
the  remote 
short  time 
:rished  pur- 
fhe  was  old 
become  so 
lable  family 
her  to  con- 
she  subse- 
relatives  in 
r  subsisted 
rother  Wil- 
ales,  subse- 
and  thence 
ep  and  fer- 
ined  with  a 
ity  of  char- 
ny  devoted 
nown.     She 
friends  in 


4 


lary, 


eldest 


daughter  of  George  and  Margaret  liarger,  whom  he  mar- 
ried at  V'incennes,  Northwest  Territory,  February  11,  1791, 
four  years  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife.  She  was  a 
woman  of  many  virtues  and  of  those  sterling  qualities  of 
character  that  were  developed  in  all  women  subjected  to 
the  refining  and  strengthening  ordeal  of  the  peculiar  vicis- 
situdes and  conditions  of  life  and  society  in  the  earl}- 
West,  whither  her  father  with  his  wife  and  a  large  family 
of  children  emigrated  from  Pennsylvania  and  settled  in 
the  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio  at  a  very  early  day. 
The  I^argers  were  of  German  ancestry,  whose  language 
they  all  spoke  as  well  as  the  English  and  French.  It  is 
likely  that  the  German  was  the  first  learned  and  for  years 
the  household  language  of  the  family,  as  the  children  of 
Mary  (Barger)  Jones  relate  that  she  always,  even  in  age, 
said  her  prayers,  learned  at  her  pious  mother's  knee  in 
childhood,  in  that  tongue,  though  she  was  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  both  English  and  French,  which  she  com- 
monly spoke.  Her  father,  George  Barger,  with  other 
members  of  the  family,  were  among  those  who  had  their 
claims  under  French  or  English  grants  confirmed  by  Gov. 
St.  Clair  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  under  tue  resolves  of 
congress  of  June  and  August,  1788,*  and  later  by  the 
U.-S.  commissioners,  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  adjust- 
ing the  old  colonial  claims;  and  her  brothers  Frederick, 
i  Peter,  and  George  Barger,  together  with  her  husband, 
John  Rice  Jones,  were  members  of  Capt.  Pierre  Game- 
lin's  company  of  militia  at  Vincennes,  in  lygo,-^  and  as 
such  took  part  in  Col.  Hamtramck's  campaign  against  the 
Wabash  tribes  in  the  fall  of  that  year;:):  and  for  these, 
if  not  for  other  services  against  the  Indians,  they  each 
received  from   the  general  government  donations  of  one 

*  "American  State  Papers — rublic  Lands,"  Vol.  1,  pp.  509-10. 
+  Law's  "The  Colonial  History  of  Vincennes." 
:  Dillon's  "  History  of  Indiana. " 


i 


128 


EARLY    ILLINOIS. 


hundred  acres  of  land,  conformably  to  the  act  of  congress 
of  March  3,  1791,  as  "militiamen  duly  enrolled  in  the 
militia  at  Vincennes  on  August  i,  1790,  and  who  had  done 
militia  duty."* 

It  is  a  fact  sufficiently  curious  and  interesting  to  merit 
mention  in  this  connection  that  no  two  of  the  four  sisters 
married  men  of  the  same  nationality  or  blood  —  Mary 
marrying  a  Welshman,  John  Rice  Jones ;  Christina  a  Span- 
iard, Diego  Rodrigues;  Elizabeth  a  Frenchman,  Baptiste 
La  Chapelle,  a  descendant  of  that  Bazyl  La  Chapelle  who 
settled  in  Kaskaskia  about  17 10;  and  Susan,  the  youngest, 
an  Irishman,  William  Shannon,  a  merchant  and  banker 
and  highly- esteemed  citizen  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  the 
early  friend  and  patron  of  the  late  U.-S.  Senator  Lewis 
V.  Bogy  of  Missouri. 

Mary  (Barger)  Jones  was  rather  small  and  slight  in  form, 
and  had  regular  features  and  very  black  hair  and  eyes. 
She  was  of  a  very  gentle  nature,  and  highly  regarded  by 
all  who  knew  her.  She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  May 
17,  1767,  and  died  at  Potosi,  Missouri,  at  her  home  with 
her  son.  Gen.  Augustus  Jones,  on  Jan.  6,  1839,  having  lived 
to  a  good  old  age  and  survived  her  husband  some  fifteen 
years.  Following  is  a  list  of  the  children  of  John  Rice 
and  Mary  (Barger)  Jones,  with  dates  and  places  of  birth: 

John  Rice,  born  Jan.  8,  1792,  at  Kaskaskia,  N.-W.  Ty. 

Eliza,  borp  Jan.  10,  1794,  at  Kaskaskia,  Northwest  Ty. 

Augustus,  born  Feb.  18,  1796,  at  Kaskaskia,  N.-W.  Ty. 

Harriet,  born  Oct.  16,  1798,  at  Kaskaskia,  Northwest  Ty. 

Myers  Fisher,  born  Oct.  19,  1800,  at  Kaskaskia,  Indiana 
Territory. 

George  Wallace,  born  April  12,  1804,  at  Vincennes,  In- 
diana Territory. 

Nancy,  born  June  17,  1806,  at  Vincennes,  Indiana  Ter- 
ritory; died  young. 

»  "American  State  Papers— Public  Lands,"  Vols.  I  and  VII, 


a* 


m 


in 


JOHN    RICE   JONES. 


129 


'  congress 
2d  in  the 
had  done 

T  to  merit 
3ur  sisters 
3d  — Mary 
la  a  Span- 
1,  Baptiste 
apelle  who 
;  youngest, 
nd  banker 
-,  and  the 
itor  Lewis 

^ht  in  form, 
and  eyes, 
jgarded  by 
vania,  May 
home  with 
laving  Uved 
ome  fifteen 
John  Rice 
3  of  birth : 
S\-W.  Ty. 
hwest  Ty. 
,  N.-W.  Ty 
rthwest  Ty. 
da,  Indiana 

icennes,  In- 

idiana  Ter- 

I. 


WilHam  Powell,  born  May  13,  18 10,  at  Kaskaskia,  Illi- 
nois Territory. 

Of  the  above  children,  the  following  are  brief  biographi- 
cal notices  that  may  not  be  without  interest  in  this  con- 
nection: 

Gen.  John  Rice  Jones,  the  eldest  son,  served  under 
Capt.  Henry  Dodge  in  the  war  of  18 12,  and  removing  to 
Texas,  then  a  Mexican  state,  as  early  as  183 1,  became  iden- 
tified with  its  struggles  for  independence;  which  gained,  he 
became  postmaster-general  under  the  three  forms  of  the 
Republic,  provisional,  ad  interim,  and  constitutional — 
proof  enough  of  his  ability  and  fidelity — in  the  cabinets 
of  as  many  of  its  executives,  namely,  Gov.  Henry  Smith 
and  Presidents  David  G.  Burnet  and  Mirabeau  B.  Lamar, 
respectively,  and  was  a  personal  friend  of  and  fellow- 
patriot  with  those  men  and  their  compeers,  Hon.  Stephen 
F.  Austin,  "the  father  of  Texas,"  and  his  dearest  of  friends; 
Gen.  Sam.  Houston,  Col.  VVm.  B.  Travis,  Col.  James  Bowie, 
Col.  David  Crockett,  Col.  Benjamin  R.  Milam,  and  the 
many  others  whose  memories  are  justly  dear  to  the  people 

>of  Texas,  and  whose  names  are  as  "familiar  in  their 
mouths  as  household  words."  Gen.  Jones  was  one  of  the 
two  executors  of  the  will  of  the  heroic  Col.  Travis,  the 
other  being  ex-Gov.  Henry  Smith. 

Locating  in  183 1  at  San  P^lipe  de  Austin,  he  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  that  place,  which,  as  Austin,  is  now 
the  capital  of  the  great  Lone-Star  State,  and  for  years 
was  one  of  its  prosperous  merchants.  He  died  in  Fayette 
County,  Tex.,  on  his  plantation,  "Fairland  Farm,"  in  that 
eventful  year  in  which  the  Republic  he  loved  so  well  and 
Ihad  so  long  and  faithfully  served  ceased  to  exist  on  be- 
Icoming  a  state  of  the  American  Union — 1845 ;  and  having 
married  a  daughter  of  Maj.  James  Hawkins  in  Missouri, 

:^4n  18 18,  he  left  a  large  and  respectable  family  of  children 


fm 


*%■.. 


130 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


to  cherish  the  memory  and  contemplate  with  just  pride 
the  record  of  a  devoted  father  and  a  noble  man. 

Gen.  Augustus  Jones,  the  second  son,  was  a  private 
soldier  in  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  entering  the 
service  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  belonging,  with  his  elder 
brother,  to  Capt,  Dodge's  company.  For  many  years  he 
was  largely  interested  in  mining,  milling,  and  mercantile 
operations,  and  became  a  wealthy  slave-owner  and  landed 
proprietor  in  Missouri,  and  later  in  Texas.  He  was  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Gen.  Jackson,  and  during  both  terms  of  the 
latter  as  president  served  as  United -States  marshal  of 
Missouri,  during  which  period  his  valuable  services,  involv- 
ing the  performance  of  many  daring  deeds,  evoked  the 
formal  acknowledgments  of  congress.  He  was  for  years 
major-general  of  the  Missouri  state  militia;  by  a  small 
majority  was  defeated  on  the  Calhoun,  or  anti- Benton, 
democratic  ticket  for  congress  in  his  district,  in  Missouri, 
in  1844;  commanded  a  company  of  volunteer  cavalry  in 
the  Mexican  war,  during  which  he  was  for  a  time  military- 
governor  of  Santa  Fe,  and  in  his  younger  days  partici- 
pated, as  principal  or  second,  in  a  number  of  duels.  One 
of  these  was  the  fatal  affair  between  Lionel  Brown  of  Potosi, 
of  whom  Gen.  Jones  was  second,  and  the  noted  Col.  John 
Smith  T.*  Mr.  Brown  was  a  lawyer  and  a  nephew  of  the 
famous  Col.  Aaron  Burr,  the  slayer  of  Hon.  Alexander 
Hamilton.  The  duel  took  place  on  the  Illinois  shore  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  at  a  point  opposite  Herculaneuni, 
Mo.,  and  resulted  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Brown,  who  at  the 
first  fire  received  a  bullet  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead. 

Gen.  Jones  died  in  February,  1887,  at  the  age  of  nearly 

*  John  Smith  T  was  the  odd  name  of  Col.  Smith.  To  distinguish  himself 
from  the  many  of  the  name,  and  also  to  indicate  that  he  was  from  Tennessee, 
he  had  the  "T"  affixed  to  his  name  as  a  regular  part  thereof,  by  legislatixc 
enactment,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Missouri,  lie  is  said  to  have 
killed  thirteen  men  in  duels,  and  never  to  have  missed  his  mark. 


i 


ULIbVb 

miMiiuui 


JOHN   RICE  JONES. 


131 


just  pride 


a  private 
tering  the 
ti  his  elder 
r  years  he 
mercantile 
nd  landed 
was  a  per- 
rms  of  the 
narshal  of 
:es,  involv- 
ivoked  the 
5  for  years 
)y  a  small 
iti- Benton, 
n  Missouri, 
cavalry  in 
e  military- 
ys  partici- 
uels.     One 

1  of  Potosi, 
Col.  John 

hew  of  the 
Alexander 
is  shore  of 
rculaneuni, 
who  at  the 
rehead. 

2  of  nearly 

nguish  himself 
)m  Tennesset;, 
by  legislative 
said  to  have 


ninety-one,  at  Columbus,  Texas,  whither  he  removed  in 
185 1.  He  was  a  freemason  of  high  rank  for  nearly  seventy 
years.  He  was  thrice  married,  and  left  numerous  descend- 
ants of  great  respectability.  Among  the  sons  was  Augus- 
tus Dodge  Jones,  an  able  editorial  writer  and  the  talented 
author  of  the  ingenious  pamphlet  "The  True  Method  of 
Electing  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,"  which  attracted  considerable  attention  some  years 
ago.  He  removed  to  California  in  1850,  where  he  resided 
some  twenty  years,  and  held  various  positions  of  trust,  and 
edited  aad  published  a  number  of  newspapers  there  and 
in  Nevada  and  old  Mexico,  as  also  later  in  Arkansas.  For 
some  time  he  was  deputy-surveyor  of  the  port  of  San 
Francisco,  and  for  many  years  was  grand  worthy  patriarch 
of  the  order  of  Good  Templars  of  the  State  of  California. 
He  died  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  December,  1885. 

Another  son,  William  Ashley  Jones,  is  well  remem- 
bered as  an  early  Iowa  and  Minnesota  journalist  and  poli- 
tician, and  as  a  principal  projector  and  executive  officer 
of  the  first  Minnesota  railroad,  the  Winona  and  St.  Peter 
— an  enterprise  in  which  he  lost  a  large  fortune.  He  was 
for  years — in  the  '50's — a  deputy  U.-S.  land-surveyor,  as 
such  subdividing  extensive  portions  of  Minnesota  and  Wis- 
consin; was  one  of  two  U.-S.  commissioners  appointed  in 
^855  by  President  Pierce  to  adjudicate  the  claims  of  the 
mixed-bloods  of  the  Sioux  nation  of  Indians  to  the  great 
Lake- Pepin  reservation,  in  Minnesota  Territory;  has  held 
a  number  of  honorable  elective  public  offices,  and  at  pres- 
ent is  president  of  the  Yankton,  Okobojo  &  Fort  Buford 
Railroad  Company,  a  late  project  which  has  its  head- 
quarters at  Pierre,  South  Dakota.  A  daughter  became  the 
wife  of  Dr.  Stephen  D.  Mullowney,  an  able  physician,  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1856,  U.-S.  consul  at  Monterey,  Mexico.  An- 
,  other  daughter  married  John  V.  Dunklin,  a  nephew  of  Gov. 
Daniel  Dunklin  of  Mi.ssouri.  o 


m.. 


mmm 


mmm 


132 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


Hon.  Myers  Fisher  Jones,  the  third  son,  named  for 
one  of  his  father's  distinguished  Philadelphia  friends,  was  a 
man  of  excellent  mind  and  heart,  and  in  the'20's  and  '30's 
prominently  engaged  in  iron-smelting,  milling,  stock-deal- 
ing, and  farming — with  his  slaves — in  Washington  County, 
Mo.,  which  county  he  for  a  period  represented  in  the  state 
legislature.  As  an  enterprising  business  man  and  citizen, 
he  was  selected  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  his  county 
in  each  of  the  two  great  internal-improvement  conventions 
that  met  in  St.  Louis  in  April,  1835,  and  June,  1836,  re- 
spectively, and  which  were  composed  of  delegates,  many 
in  number  and  conspicuous  in  character,  from  every  county 
in  the  State.  They  were  the  first  important  public  meet- 
ings to  discuss  the  railroad  question  in  Missouri,  and  by 
projecting  several  lines  of  railway,  "foreshadowed  the 
system  of  roads  now  existing  in  the  State  and  inaugurated 
the  net-work  of  intercommunication  which  at  this  day 
encompasses  the  whole  State."  He  was  a  member  of  the 
important  committee  appointed  by  the  last  convention  "to 
raise  means  for  a  complete  reconnoissance  and  survey  of 
the  routes  of  the  two  proposed  roads,  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  skilful  and  competent  engineers,  and  to  cause  the 
work  to  be  done  with  as  little  delay  as  possible" — duties 
which  the  committee  duly  performed. 

Mr.  Jones  removed  to  Texas  in  1839,  where  he  became 
extensively  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising  on  an 
eight-thousand-acre  tract  of  land  he  had  purchased,  and 
also  became  locally  conspicuous  in  defending  frontier  set- 
tlements against  the  frequent  pillaging  incursions  of  Ind- 
ians or  Mexicans,  or  both,  he  with  his  company  at  one 
time  being  absent  from  home  three  months  in  pursuing 
and  punishing  a  desperate  band  of  raiders,  many  of  whom 
were  killed  and  taken  prisoners.  He  died  in  Texas  in 
1846.  Twice  married,  he  left  numerous  descendants  of 
worth  and  most  respectable  character.     One  of  his  sons, 


^jj^OK 


— ^W"-<-<^-Sv  ■v'-.-t;- 


.v>»  •-*■*•*>*/ 


m 


W I  MM  II  Ml  NMH  in  im  MH  ■•••••■>  ■• 


JOHN   RICE  JONES. 


133 


lamed  for 
nds,  was  a 
5  and  '30's 
tock-deal- 
n  County, 
1  the  state 
ad  citizen, 
his  county 
Dnventions 
;,  1836,  re- 
ates,  many 
ery  county 
iblic  meet- 
iri,  and  by 
dovved   the 
naugurated 
t   this  day 
iber  of  the 
mention  "to 
i  survey  of 
re  the  ser- 
o  cause  the 
le"— duties 

he  became 
sing  on  an 
lased,  and 
rontier  set- 
ons  of  Ind- 
any  at  one 
n  pursuing 
y  of  whom 
Texas  in 
:endants  of 
Df  his  sons, 


Oscar  Peery  Jones,  served   three  years   in   the   Mexican 
war,  and  another,  Andrew  Thompson  Jones,  was  a  young 

j     officer  in  the  confederate  army  and  twice  made  a  prisoner- 

*     of-war. 

W  Gen.  George  Wallace  Jones,  the  fourth  son,  named 
for  another  esteemed  friend  of  his  father's,  George  Wallace, 
'i  son-in-law  of  Hon.  John  Gibson,  secretary  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  was  educated  at  Transylvania  University,  Lex- 
;  ington,  Ky.,  whence  he  graduated  on  July  13,  1825.  He 
was  bred  to  the  bar,  but  ill-health  prevented  him  from 
practising.  He  was  clerk  of  the  U.-S.  district  court  for 
Ste.  Genevieve  County  in  1826;  served  as  aidc-dc-canip  to 
Gen.  Henry  Dodge  in  the  Black- Hawk  war,  in  several 
engagements  in  which  he  took  a  prominent  part,  in  one 
having  his  horse  shot  from  under  him;  was  chosen  colonel 
of  militia  in  1832,  and  subsequently  major-general;  also 
as  judge  of  the  county  court,  by  appointment  of  Gov. 
George  B.  Porter  of  Michigan,  at  the  unanimous  petition 
of  the  bar. 

In  1835,  he  was  elected  delegate  to  congress  from  the 
territory  of  Michigan,  and  served  two  years  as  such,  and 
two  years  as  delegate  from  Wisconsin  Territory.     In  1839,. 
was  appointed  by  President  VanBuren  as  surveyor-general 
of  the  Northwest;  was  removed  in   1841   for  his  politics, 
'   but  reappointed  by  President  Polk,  and  remained  in  office 
until   1849.     I"    1848,  was  elected   United-States  senator 
from  Iowa  for  six  years,  and  reelected  on  Dec.  20,  1852, 
%,,  for  six  years  more,  officiating  as  chairman  of  the  comniit- 
,  tee  on  pensions  and  enrolled  bills  and  on  the  committee 
on  territories.     At  the  conclusion  of  his  last  term,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Buchanan  as  minister  to  New  Gra- 
nada, now   United   States  of  Colombia,   South   America. 
"Recalled   by   President   Lincoln   in    1861,   he  was  on  his 
•  arrival  in  Washington  most  kindly  received  by  that  great 


1^ 


wmmmm 


m 


^ 


134 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


man,  and  feted  and  feasted  by  the  powers  that  were,  in- 
cluding Secretary-of-state  Seward,  who  subsequently  issued 
an  order  for  ex-Minister  Jones'  arrest  after  the  latter  had 
departed  for  his  home  at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  and  had  him 
imprisoned,  for  reasons  never  made  known,  in  Fort  Lafay- 
ette, where  he  remained,  for  sixty -four  days,  until  the 
accession  of  Secretary  Stanton,  who  caused  him  to  be 
immediately  released. 

Gen.  Jones  was  the  second  of  the  lamented  Hon.  Jona- 
than Cilley,  M.  C.  from  Maine,  in  his  fatal  duel,  in  1838, 
"on  the  Marlboro  road  to  Baltimore  from  Washington 
City,"  with  Representative  William  J.  Graves  from  Ken- 
tucky. In  au  irticle  on  "Senate  Eras,"  in  T/ie  Dubuque 
Times  s'»m  .  .'  ago,  Gen.  M.  M.  Trumbull,  a  graphic 
writer,  thus  reters  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch: 

"Gen.  J-:  !!€;>  ts  today  the  most  historic  aHd  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  chir?cte;  in  the  West.  He  sat  in  the 
senate  with  Clay  and  Webster  and  Calhoun,  with  Silas 
Wright,  Benton,  Crittenden,  and  Jefferson  Davis,  with  Sum- 
ner, Seward,  Chase,  and  Douglass.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  century,  when  Gen.  Jackson  was  president,  he  sat  in 
the  house  of  representatives  with  Henry  A.  Wise  and 
John  Quincy  Adams.  His  district  included  all  of  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota.  It  now  has  over 
thirty  representatives  in  congress.  He  left  the  senate,  not 
because  of  personal  defeat,  but  because  his  party  had  gone 
out  of  power  in  Iowa.  The  intimate  and  trusted  friend  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  partner  of  Daniel  Webster,  he  re- 
members Jefferson.  On  terms  of  personal  acquaintance 
with  nearly  all  of  our  celebrated  warriors  and  statesmen, 
he  numbered  among  his  friends  and  enemies  the  mighty 
red  kings,  Black  Hawk,  Keokuk,  and  Poweshiek.  A 
drummer-boy  in  the  war  of  18 12,  Gen.  Jones  is  a  young 
man  yet.  He  walks  erect  without  a  cane,  with  a  light  and 
springy  step,  and  claims  none  of  the  indulgence  and  im- 


!! 


l 


EOnSTT 

1 1  lilt  U  I 


I  uu  Mm  tm»  •> 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


135 


were,  in- 
itly  issued 
latter  had 

had  him 
Drt  Lafay- 

until  the 
lim  to  be 

ion.  Jona- 
1,  in  1838, 
/ashington 
from  Ken- 
c  Dubuque 
a  graphic 

lerhaps  the 
sat  in  the 
with  Silas 
with  Sum- 
rly  part  of 
he  sat  in 
Wise  and 
of  Michi- 
has  over 
senate,  not 
y  had  gone 
d  friend  of 
ter,  he  rc- 
quaintance 
statesmen, 
the  mighty 
:shiek.      A 
s  a  young 
a  Hght  and 
:e  and  im- 


munities of  old  age."  The  distinguished  gentleman  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  full  mental  and  physical  vigor  at  his 
home  in  Dubuque,  and  bids  fair  to  enj'oy  life  for  many 
years  to  come. 

Of  Gen.  George  Wallace  Jones'  sons,  George  Rice  Gra- 
tiot Jones  was  a  captain  of  artillery  in  the  confederate 
army,  and  as  such  taken  prisoner  at  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Henry  and  sent  as  the  latter  to  the  Union  prison  on  John- 
son's Island,  in  Lake  Erie;  another,  Charles  Scott  Dodge 
Jones,  also  served  in  the  Southern  army,  as  an  aide-de- 
camp  on  the  staflf  of  Maj.-Gen.  Bushrod  R.  Johnson,  until 
the  former's  capture  in  battle  as  a  prisoner-of-war  by  the 
federals,  who  confined  him  in  Fort  Delaware  for  many 
months;  while  the  other  son,  William  Augustus  Bodley 
Jones,  being  opposed  to  secession,  early  entered  and  served 
in  the  Union  army.  The  first  two  were  graduates  of  the 
Western  Military  Institute  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  which 
Hon.  James  G.  Blaine  was  at  the  time  a  professor,  and  the 
third  named  was  partially  educated  there.  Prof.  Blaine 
was  there  introduced  to  Gen.  Jones  by  Hon.  Henry  Clay, 
in  1 8 50- 1,  as  Mr.  Blaine  some  years  ago  in  Washington 
reminded  Gen.  Jones, 

William  Powell  Jones,  the  fifth  and  youngest  son, 
at  the  date  of  his  untimely  death,  in  July,   1834,  from 
cholera,  which  he  took  when  crossing  the  Mississippi  River 
in  a  canoe  at  Dubuque,  then  in  Michigan  Territory,  and 
died  of  shortly  after  reaching  the  western  shore,  was  a 
[passed-midshipman  in  the  United  States  navy,  and  very 
[shortly  would  have  been  commissioned  a  lieutenant,  in 
[which  capacity  he  had  acted  in  regular  service  at  sea. 
He  had  just  returned  from  a  prolonged  tour  on  the  Conti- 
nent and  in  England  and  Wales,  for  which  he  had  obtained 
[leave  of  absence  for  a  year,  ano  \*^as  visiting  his  relatives  in 
Ithe  West  before  again  reporting  for  auty  at  his  post.    Of  a 


136 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


f! 


bright  mind,  high-toned,  and  very  ambitious,  as  well  as  of 
most  engaging  manners,  he  was  a  very  promising  young 
officer,  as  existing  testimonials  of  his  superiors  in  rank 
declare,  and,  if  spared,  in  all  probability  would  have  in 
time  attained  an  enviable  rank  and  name  in  the  history  of 
the  naval  service  of  his  country. 

Eliza  Jones,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Judge  John  Rice 
Jones,  was  married,  in  Missouri,  to  Hon.  Andrew  Scott, 
who  was  a  native  of  Virgiuia,  where  he  fitted  himself  for 
the  law.  He  removed  to  Missouri  at  an  early  day,  and 
was  elected  clerk  of  the  house  of  representatives  of  the 
first  territorial  general  assembly,  and  acted  in  the  same 
capacity  for  that  body  at  several  succeeding  sessions.  In 
1820,  he  was  appointed,  by  President  Monroe,  U.-S.  judge 
for  Arkansas  Territory,  and  as  such  officer  organized  that 
territory  at  "the  Post  of  Arkansas."  He  was  a  man  of 
much  legal  and  juridical  ability,  and  of  the  highest  char- 
acter, and  throughout  a  long  life  a  universally-respected 
citizen  of  Arkansas, 

One  of  the  historical  incidents  in  his  life  in  Arkansas 
was  his  killing  of  Gen.  Hogan*  in  a  personal  rencontre  at 
Little  Rock,  in  1827.  Gen.  Hogan,  who  was  a  large  and 
powerful  man,  while  Judge  Scott  was  only  of  medium 
size,  attacked  the  latter,  and  knocking  him  down  with 
a  tremendous  blow  of  the  fist,  killed  him  it  was  thought 
by  the  by-standers.  Recovering  in  a  moment,  however, 
he  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  drawing  the  blade  of  his  sword- 
cane,  then  commonly  carried,  quickly  advanced  upon  Gen, 
Ho.;an  and  drove  the  long,  slender,  keen  weapon  entirely 
through  the  latter's  body.  Gen.  Hogan  received  a  mortal 
wound,  from  which  he  a  minute  or  two  later  dropped  dead 
at  his  antagonist's  feet,  but  not  before  he,  Hogan,  had 
desperately  drawn  th^. reeking  blade  from  his  body  and 

*  It  is  believed  by  the  writer  tliat  this  was  his  name. 


IIIMtllllSIl 


JOHN    RICE  JONES. 


137 


well  as  of 
ng  young 
s  in  rank 
i  have  in 
history  of 


[ohn  Rice 
ew  Scott, 
imself  for 
'  day,  and 
/es  of  the 
the  same 
sions.  In 
L-S.  judge 
lized  that 
a  man  of 
;hest  char- 
-respected 

Arkansas 

mcontrc  at 
arge  and 
medium 

own  with 
thought 
however, 

lis  sword - 
pon  Gen. 

n  entirely 
a  mortal 
ped  dead 
gan,  had 
3ody  and 


-with  it  made  a  frantic  lunge  at  Judge  Scott,  which  would 
have  instantly  killed  him  by  piercing  him  through  the 
neck  had  not  the  innumerable  folds  of  si  u  ■.  Italian  silk 
cravat,  worn  by  Judge  Scott,  eflfectually  tarned  aside  the 
deadly  weapon  from  its  fatal  course.  Judge  Scott  imme- 
diately surrendered  himself,  and  on  his  trial  was  acquitted 
by  the  jury  without  leaving  their  box  in  the  court-room. 

Among  many  descendants  of  Judge  Scott  are  his  chil- 
dren: Hon.  John  R.  Homer  Scott  of  Russellville,  Ark.,  an 
ex-state  senator  and  a  captain  in  the  confederate  army; 
Mrs.  J.  Russell  Jones,  wife  of  the  U.-S.  minister  to  Belgium 
under  his  warm  personal  friend,  President  Grant;  and  the 
late  Mrs.  Benjamin  Campbell,  wife  of  the  ex-U.-S.  marshal 
for  the  northern  district  of  Illinois,*  both  of  which  latter 
gentlemen  reside  in  Chicago. 

Harriet  Jones,  the  second  daughter  of  Judge  Jones, 
Avas  twice  married.  Her  first  husband  was  Thomas  Brady, 
who  for  many  years  was  a  prominent  merchant  and  busi- 
ness man  of  St.  Louis,  as  a  member  of  the  old  and  wealthy 
firm  of  McKnight  &  Brady."f*  He  never  held  any  public 
ofiice;  was  born  in  Ireland,  March  17,  1781;  married  to 
Miss  Jones  in  Missouri  in  18 14;  and  died  near  St.  Louis, 
October  11,  1821.  This  union  was  blessed  with  five  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom  became  the  wife  of  Col.  George  W. 
Campbell,  deceased,  late  of  Chicago;  one  the  wife  of  Dr. 
Jacob  Wyeth,  a  native  of  Cambridge,  Mass.;  and  another 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Ferdinand  Rozier  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 

*  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell  are  the  parents  of  Mrs.  Cien.  O.  E.  Habcock, 
widow  of  one  of  Gen.  Grant's  staff-officers. 

t  The  members  of  this  firm  were  John  McKnight  and  Thomas  Urady,  and 
are  not  to  be  confused  with  their  respective  brothers,  Thomas  McKnifjht  and 
James  Brady,  who  under  the  style  of  Brady  &  McKnight  were  a  later-formed 
firm  than  the  preceding,  though  latterly  contemporaneous  with  it.  Says 
Darby:  "The  early  records  of  deeds  still  show  the  imnie.n.se  amount  of  real 
estate  owned  by  these  firms  in  St.  Louis  city  and  county,  and  other  counties 
of  the  State.  In  their  day  and  lime  they  also  did  the  largest  mercantile 
business  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis. " 


V 


138 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


!|:) 


Some  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Brady,  his  widow- 
became  the  wife  of  the  celebrated  Hon.  John  Scott  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  a  successful  politician, 
who  figured  prominently  in  the  early  history  of  Missouri 
as  territorial  councillor,  delegate  in  congress  for  four 
years,  a  member  of  the  first  State  constitutional  con- 
vention, and  representative  in  congress  from  1822  to  1826. 
He  was  a  native,  as  was  also  his  brother  Judge  Andrew 
Scott,  of  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  and  a  graduate  of 
Princeton  College.  Says  a  recent  historian:*  "John 
Scott,  a  great  lawyer,  would  have  been  noticeable  any- 
where, with  his  long  white  cue  of  hair  hanging  grace- 
fully down  his  shoulders,  or  else  clubbed  and  tucked  up 
with  a  comb.  A  man  whose  conversation  would  interest 
you  even  in  a  fit  of  the  toothache — a  suave,  courteous,, 
peppery  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  who  bowed  and  com- 
plimented and  swore,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  son 
of  a  planter  of  'the  slashes  of  Hanover,'  who  always  car- 
ried dirk  and  pistol  on  his  person,  and  was  always  ready 
to  give  and  receive  a  challenge."  He  died  at  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve in  1861.  His  descendants  are  numerous  and  highly 
respectable,  among  them  the  wife  of  Hon.  Samuel  Mont- 
ford  Wilson,  the  eminent  lawyer  of  California,  who  for  a 
time  was  influentially  recommended  for  the  position  of 
secretary  of  the  interior  in  President  Cleveland's  cabinet. 

The  daughters  of  Judge  Jones  were  high-spirited  women 
of  marked  intellectuality  and  character,  and,  like  their 
brothers,  were  "a  credit  to  the  stock  from  which  they 
sprung."  In  concluding  this  imperfect  memoir,  we  repro- 
duce the  following  observations,  made  by  a  well-known 
writer.f  last  above  quoted,  who  in  speaking  of  Judge  Jones' 

*  Scharf,  in  his  "  History  of  St.  Louis  City  and  County. " 

+  Franc  B.  Wilkie— "Poliuto**— the  talented  and  versatile  author  and 
journalist,  in  a  biographical  sketch  of  Gen.  George  Wallace  Jones,  in  TAe 
Chicago  Times  of  February  20,  l886. 


■iiiiitaUiitt. 


widow 
of  Ste. 
litician^ 
Missouri 
3r    four 
al   con- 
to  1826, 
Andrew 
luate  of 
"  John 
)le  any- 
r  grace- 
:ked  up 
interest 
mrteouSy 
nd  com- 
i  the  son 
;ays  car- 
ers ready 
te.  Gene- 
d  highly 
il  Mont- 
ho  for  a 
sition  of 
:abinet. 

d  women 
ike  their 
lich  they 
ive  repro- 
U-known 
[ge  Jones' 


r, 


JOHN    RICE  JONE.^. 


139 


children,  says:  "It  is  rare  in  the  history  of  families  that 
so  many  sons  have  been  born  who  were  so  even  in  their 
developments,  and  of  whom  each  was  characterized  by  a 
high  order  of  ability  both  from  nature  and  acquirement. 
Each  of  them  rose  far  above  the  average  level  of  men, 
and  each  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  drama  of  life." 

Note  to  be  read  after  second  paragraph  on  page  108: 
Since  writing  the  above,  the  author  has  learned  from  a  reliable  source  that 
John  Rice  Jones  owned  slaves  at  Vincennes,  Kaskaskia,  Ste.  Genevieve,  and 
Potosi,  or  during  the  entire  period  dating  from  shortly  after  his  coming  to  the 
Northwest  Territory,  in  1786,  if  not  before,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in. 
Missouri,  in  1824.    All  of  his  children  were  likewise  slave-owners. 


author  and 
ones,  in  The 


7^ 


RICE   JONES. 


h  % 


A    BRIEF    MEMOIR    OF    THE    LAST    REPRESENTATIVE    OF    RANDOLPH 
COUNTY  IN  THE   INDIANA  TERRITORIAL  GENERAL  ASSEM- 
BLY,   AND    THE    VICTIM    OF    AN    HISTORICAL 
TRAGEDY    OF    EARLY    ILLINOIS. 


By  W.  A.  Burt  Jones  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 


*         *        *         "Oft  and  well 
Remembrance  shall  his  story  tell, 
Affection  of  his  virtues  speak, 
With  beaming  eye  and  burning  cheek." 

RICE  JONES,  the  gifted  son  and  eldest  child  of  John 
Rice  Jones,  by  his  first  marriage,  was  born  at  Brecon, 
Brecknockshire,  Wales,  Sept.  28,  1781.  In  the  autumn  of 
1784,  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Philadelphia,  whither 
the  husband  and  father  had  preceded  the  wife  and  son  in 
the  foregoing  spring  to  first  satisfy  himself  as  to  the  advis- 
ability of  locating  his  family  in  the  United  States,  and  a 
few  years  later  removed  with  the  family  to  Vincennes. 
At  an  early  age  he  was  matriculated  at  Transylvania 
University,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  the  a/j^a  mater  of  so 
many  eminent  public  men,  and  in  due  time  graduated 
therefrom  in  letters  and  with  much  distinction.  He  sub- 
sequently took  his  degree  in  the  medical  department  of 
the  great  University  of  Pennsylvania;  but  forming  a  dis- 
like for  the  medical  profession  after  a  brief  practice,  he 
abandoned  it  and  entered  the  celebrated  law-school  at 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  at  that  time  "the  first  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  United  States,"*  and  which  he  quitted  with 
increased  honor  after  a  period  of  intense  application  to 

*  American  reprint  of  "  Chambers'  Encyclopadia. " 

140 


RICE  JONKS. 


141 


^DOLPH 


)f  John 
Brecon, 
umn  of 
whither 

son  in 
e  advis- 

and  a 
^cennes. 
ylvania 

of  so 
iduated 
rie  sub- 
nent  of 

a  dis- 
tice,  he 
lool  at 

of  the 
ed  with 
ition  to 


study.*  Returning  to  the  West,  he  opened  an  office  at 
Kaskaskia  toward  the  close  of  1806,  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  law. 

The  career  that  opened  before  this  extraordinary  young 
man,  intellectually  brilliant,  broadly  educated,  thoroughly 
equipped  for  his  chosen  profession  and  a  life  of  usefulness 
and  honor,  and  filled  with  the  noblest  aspirations,  was 
iideed  most  promising,  and  moreover  one  that  would  un- 
doubtedly have  been  realized  in  all  respects  but  for  his 
unfortunate  active  engagement  in  local  politics,  which  then 
and  for  some  four  or  five  years  later  gave  rise,  in  the  west- 
ern counties  particularly,  to  party  spirit  of  an  intensely 
rancorous  nature,  and  which  raged  with  an  unrestrained 
and  almost  incredible  violence.  Bitter  partisanship  on 
both  sides  characterized  all  the  prominent  politicians,  con- 
spicuous among  whom  was  Rice  Jones,  who,  though  still 
very  young,  had  risen  by  force  of  talents,  zeal,  ar  d  energy 
to  the  leadership  of  his  party.* 

It  is  not  absolutely  clear  just  what  all  the  political 
aififerences  between  the  parties  were,  but  it  is  sure  that  the 
Indiana- Illinois  territorial  division  question  was  a  leading 
issue,  coupled  with  the  long- prominent  slavery  question, 
and  equally  certain  that  in  time  a  great  deal  of  personal 
jealousy  and  animosity  aggravated,  if  it  did  not  quite 
supercede,  the  political  feeling.  The  long-continued  ex- 
citement reached  its  greatest  height  in  and  immediately 
succeeding  the  memorable  election  of  July  25,  1808,  in 
Randolph  and  St.  Clair  counties,  which  was  recognized  as 
a  life-and-death  struggle  between  the  pro-divisionists  and 
their  opponents  throughout  the  territory  of  Indiana,  and 
in  which,  as  has  been  stated  in  the  biographical  sketch  of 
John  Rice  Jones,  victory  perched  upon  the  banner  of  the 
divisionists  or  anti-Harrisonians  in  both  counties.  In 
Randolph  County,  Rice  Jones  was  triumphantly  elected 

*  Reynolds'  "  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois. " 


T^ 


J 


142 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


it 


representative  in  the  lower  house  of  the  general  assembly, 
and  John  Messinger,  a  member  of  the  State  constitutional 
convention  of  18 18  and  otherwise  prominent,  was  chosen 
to  represent  St.  Clair  County  in  the  same  body. 

It  was  a  self-evident  fact,  in  view  of  the  then  composi- 
tion of  the  legislature,  that  the  triumph  of  the  Illinois 
party  would  result  in  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Harrison- 
ians,  hence  the  bitter  fight  and  feeling;  and  this  was  con- 
summated by  the  election,  at  the  next  session  of  the 
general  assembly,  as  delegate  in  congress  of  Hon.  Jesse 
B.  Thomas,  speaker  of  the  house,  afterward  president  of 
the  first  State  constitutional  convention,  and  a  judge  of 
the  first  territorial  court  of  Illinois,  who  speedily  secured 
the  separation  of  Illinois  from  Indiana  Territory  and  its 
erection  into  independent  autonomy.  This  fidelity  to 
principle,  and  also  to  his  plighted  word  and  written  bond 
— for  John  Rice  Jones,  then  a  councillor,  to  make  assur- 
ance doubly  sure,  is  said  to  have  required  both  from  him 
before  agreeing  to  his  election* — brought  upon  his  devoted 
head  the  execration  of  the  anti-division  party  throughout 
the  Territory,  who,  while  they  justly  recognized  him  as 
the  final  agent  in  their  defeat,  very  unreasonably  and  irra- 
tionally charged  him,  a  notoriously  avowed  and  foresworn 
divisionist,  with  perfidy,  and  in  one  community,  Vincennes, 
carried  their  malevolence  to  such  an  excess  as  to  hang 
him  in  effigy. 

At  Kaskaskia,  the  Harrisonians'  chagrin  and  keen  dis- 
appointment, both  personal  and  political,  at  defeat  in  the 
county  election  and  that  of  Delegate  Thomas,  assumed 
the  character  of  deep-seated  hate  in  some  whose  rage 
could  scarcely  be  contained,  and  personal  conflicts  between 
gentlemen  on  either  side  were  constantly  imminent.  This 
state  of  afifairs  continued  to  grow  from  bad  to  worse,  until 
it  culminated  in  the  assassination  of  Rice  Jones,  a  leading 

*  Dunn's  "Indiana,"  and  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois." 


mmm 


RICE   TONES. 


143 


lembly, 
utional 
chosen 

)mposi- 
Illinois 
arrison- 
as  con- 
of  the 
n.  Jesse 
dent  of 
Lidge  of 
secured 
and  its 
ility  to 
;n  bond 
e  assur- 
om  him 
devoted 
ughout 
him  as 
nd  irra- 
Iresworn 
cennes, 
o  hang 

:en  dis- 
It  in  the 
Issumed 
\e  rage 
>etween 
This 
ie,  until 
[leading 


1 


member  of  one  of  the  parties,  which  in  a  measure  satisfied 
the  mahgnity  of  the  one  side,  warned  the  other  as  to  what 
they  might  reasonably  expect  from  their  unscrupulous 
enemies  if  the  antagonistic  conditions  between  them  were 
maintained,  and  "quitted  the  party  feuds  for  a  time,"  if 
not  practically  permanently. 

In  order  to  review  all  the  circumstances  immediately 
connected  with  the  killing  of  Rice  Jones,  we  must  turn 
back  to  an  hour  in  the  past  period  of  the  heated  political 
canvass  preceding  the  election  named,  in  which  a  challenge 
to  mortal  combat  under  the  rules  of  the  cocfe  duello  passed 
between  Rice  Jones  and  the  Hon.  Shadrach  Bond,  an  ex- 
representative  in  the  territorial  legislature,  afterward  a 
delegate  in  congress  from  Illinois  Territory,  and  the  first 
governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  Rice  Jones  accepted 
the  challenge,  named  pistols  as  the  weapons,  and  at  the 
appointed  time  the  principals,  with  their  attendants,  Wm. 
Morrison  as  Jones'  second  and  Dr.  James  Dunlap  as  Bond's 
second,  and  their  surgeons,  met  on  an  island  in  the  Missis- 
sippi River  between  Kaskaskia  and  vSte.  Genevieve. 

In  those  days,  pistols  and  guns  were  provided  with  the 
now  obsolete  hair-trigger,  which,  as  defined  by  Webster, 
was  "so  constructed  as  to  discharge  a  fire-arm  by  a  very 
slight  pressure,  as  by  the  touch  of  a  hair,"  and  when  the 
parties  had  taken  their  respective  positions  and  were  pre- 
paring to  be  in  readiness  for  the  word  "fire,"  Rice  Jones 
inadvertently  touched  the  sensitive  trigger  of  his  weapon, 
which  instantly  exploded.  The  fact  that  the  bullet  from 
the  exploded  pistol  entered  the  ground  a  few  feet  from 
Rice  Jones  and  not  in  the  direction  of  Mr.  Bond,  perfectly 
satisfied  the  latter  that  the  shot  was  totally  accidental, 
and,  high-toned  gcntlemai'  that  he  was,  he  so  unhesitat- 
ingly declared  it  when  his  second,  the  infamous  Dr.  James 
Dunlap,  exclaimed  that  the  accidental  explosion  was  Jones' 
fire,  and  that  Bond  might  and  should  fire  at  his  adversary 


.---rffiPW!' 


144 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


^'l 


;|l 


in  return.  The  contemptible  proposition  was  scorned  by 
Mr.  Bond,  and  the  difficulty  between  the  principals  was 
settled  on  the  spot  on  terms  equally  honorable  to  both. 

The  difficulty  between  them  had  been  entirely  of  a 
political  nature,  or  at  least  not  resultant  from  a  deep- 
seated  personal  enmity,  and  therefore  was  susceptible  of 
comparatively  easy  adjustment;  but  such  was  not  true 
with  regard  to  the  ill-feeling  which  had  long  existed  be- 
tween Rice  Jones  and  Dr.  Dunlap,  and  which  became  more 
intense  as  a  result  of  the  latter's  unmanly  position  on  the 
subject  of  the  unfortunate  accident  on  the  duelling  ground. 
There  ensued  between  them  a  bitter  controversy,  which 
was  taken  up  by  their  respective  friends,  and  that  extended 
to  an  angry  newspaper  contention,  in  which  the  scathing 
and  acrimonious  pen  of  Rice  Jones,  particularly  as  em- 
ployed in  the  composition  of  a  certain  satirical  poem, 
drove  his  adversaries  to  a  pitch  of  fury  closely  bordering 
on  mania,  and  evoked  from  them  dire  threats  of  personal 
violence  upon  the  object  of  their  rancor. 

The  ill-feeling  of  older  standing,  above  referred  to,  had 
its  origin  in  the  arbitrary  official  conduct  of  Michael  Jones* 
and  Elijah  Backus,  land-commissioners  at  Kaskaskia,  to 
which  they  were  appointed  in  1804;  conduct  which  was 
deliberately  pursued  with  the  purpose  to  militate,  as  it  did 
greatly,  against  the  interests  of  not  only  Rice  Jones  and 
his  father,  but  many  of  the  people  of  the  district,  large 
numbers  of  whom,  as  their  personal  and  political  enemies 
the  commissioners,  especially  Jones,  taking  advantage  of 
their  official  position  to  wreck  vengeance  upon  the  objects 
of  their  dislike,  years  subsequently  "branded  vjxih  perjury 
and  forgery  to  an  alarming  extent — many  of  the  best  citi- 
zens in  the  county  being  stigmatized  with  those  crimes, 
without  cause,  and  when  they  had  neither  means  nor  man- 
ner of  defending  themselves "f  against  the  infamous  and 

*  Xo  relation  of  Rice  Jones. 

+  Reynolds'  "Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  pp.  297-8. 


RICE  JONES. 


145 


ed  by 

IS  was 
.th. 

r  of  a 
deep- 
ible  of 
»t  true 
ed  be- 
e  more 
on  the 
rround. 
,  which 
:tended 
cathing 
as  em- 
poem, 
)rdering 
Dcrsonal 


unfounded  charges.  Such  men  as  Michael  Jones*  and 
EHjah  Backus  were  the  friends  of  Dr.  Dunlap  and  other 
mortal  enemies  of  Rice  Jones. 

The  arbitrary  conduct  first  referred  to  was  justly  strongly* 
resented  by  many,  among  them  John  Rice  Jones  and  his 
son  Rice,  who  were  not  the  men  to  tamely  submit  to  the 
gross  impositions  of  the  commissioners  or  any  one  else, 
and  who  in  consequence  were  thereafter  made  the  special 
victims  of  the  official  despotism  of  the  commissioners  in 
question,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  for  them  to  exercise  it ; 
and  the  later  political  popularity  and  triumph,  in  July, 
1808,  of  Rice  Jones  tended  still  more  to  make  him  the 
particular  object  of  the  dislike  of  his  political  and  per- 
sonal enemies,  prominently  among  whom  were  the  above- 
named   Michael  Jones  and   Elijah  Backus,  who,  as  is  a 
matter   of  record,  deliberately  "urged   Dr.  Dunlap   and 
others  to  persecute  Rice  Jones  in  every  way  imaginable."i- 
A  part  of  this  persecution  was  a  newspaper  attack  by 
them  upon  him,  who,  as  has  been  stated,  got  the  better 
of  them  in  his  replies   and   retorts.     Their  threats  then 
made   against   his   life   became,    in    November,    1808,    so 
open  and   loud,  and   rumors  of  the  existence  of  a  plot 
to  kill  him  so  definite,  as  to  no  longer  be  endured  with 
the  silence  with  which  they  had   up  to  that  time  been 
treated.     John  Rice  Jones,  who  had  just  removed  with  his 
family  from  Vincennes  to  Kaskaskia,  accordingly  addressed 
the  following  note  to  Elijah  Backus: 

"Kaskaskia,  25th  Nov.,  180S. 
"Sir: — I  have  just  heard  of  your  threats  of  yesterday, 
that  if  my  son  did  not  go  out  of  the  country  he  should  in 

*  It  should  be  noted  that  Michael  Jones  was  the  Harrisonian  candidate  for 
delegate  to  congress,  in  October,  1808,  and  that  his  defeat  only  tended  to 
more  greatly  incense  him  against  his  political  opponents  and  those  who  were 
so  unfortunate  as  to  fall  under  t4ie  ban  of  his  vicious  displeasure. 

+  McDonough's  "History  of  Randolph  County,"  p.  105. 


146 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


a  few  days  be  put  out  of  existence — *//  will  be  done,  it 
shall  be  done'  I  now  inform  you  that  he  will  remain  here, 
and  if  he  should  be  murdered,  either  by  you  or  through 
•your  instigation,  I  shall  know  where  to  apply.  I  must, 
however,  confess  that  the  threats  of  poltroons  can  be  con- 
sidered in  no  other  light  than  as  those  of  assassins. 

"Yours,       John  Rice  Jones." 

It  is  not  known  what  immediate  effect  this  communica- 
tion had  upon  the  conspirators,  but  it  did  not  prevent  them 
from  carrying  into  execution  to  the  letter  their  diabolical 
plot,  for  on  December  7,  following,  Rice  Jones  was  shot 
down  in  cold  blood  in  a  public  thoroughfare  of  Kaskaskia, 
by  James  Dunlap,  the  cat's-paw  of  his  co-conspirators, 
none  of  whom  had  the  nerve  to  assume  the  responsibility 
of  the  enactment  of  the  bloody  deed  they,  were  capable 
of  conceiving  in  the  wickedness  of  their  hearts. 

The  following  particulars  of  the  deplorable  event  are 
taken  from  a  detailed  account  of  the  murder  and  circum- 
stances attending  it,  contained  in  a  book  found  some  years 
ago  in  the  old  mansion  of  Judge  John  Morrison,  in  Water- 
loo, Monroe  County,  Illinois,  when  that  structure  was  being 
demolished  to  make  room  for  other  improvements.  Ex- 
tracts from  "Judge  Morrison's  old  musty  record  of  the 
killing"  were  published  in  The  Belleville  News-Democrat 
of  February  18,  1887,  and  are  here  reproduced.  This 
singularly-preserved,  detailed,  and  authentic  account,  evi- 
dently made  not  a  great  while  after  the  assassination,  and 
in  the  place  of  its  occurrence,  from  oral  accounts  of  eye- 
witnesses of  the  tragedy,  and  by  a  man  minutely  informed 
on  the  subject,  possecses  a  great  historic  value  and  sheds 
new  light  upon  the  sad  occurrence.     It  testifies  that: 

"Rice  Jones  was  shot  down  by  Dunlap  about  six  yards 
above  the  old  elm  tree.  Dunlap  came  out  of  E.  Backus' 
house  about  ten  minutes  beforv,  he  shot  Jones.    He  (Dunlap) 


!. 


"ULISIS 

■  I  IN*  II  Ml  I 


RICE  JONES. 


147 


was  there  in  company  with  Backus.  John  Menard  was 
at  Dunlap's  when  he  came  galloping  home  from  killing 
Jones,  and  told  his  wife,  m  the  presence  of  John  Menard, 
that  he  had  'killed  the  rascal  Jones.'  John  Clino,  living 
with  James  Gilbreath,  and  Robert  Morrison  saw  Dunlap 
shoot  Jones.  McCall  was  talking  at  the  picket  fence  of 
James  Gilbreath's  yard,  McCall  on  the  inside  and  Dunlap 
on  the  outside  of  the  pickets,  when  Rice  Jones  passed  out 
of  Robert  Morrison's  yard,  going  down  to  J.  Edgar's,  when, 
after  he  had  passed  Dunlap  and  McCall  down  the  further 
side  of  the  street,  Dunlap  jumped  off  his  horse  and  hitched 
his  bridle  on  the  pickets  where  he  and  McCall  were  talk- 
ing, and  started  after  Jones,  who  was  walking  down  the 
street,  when  he  crossed  the  street  up  behind  him,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  yard,  and  Dunlap  told  him  to  stop.  Jones 
immediately  turned  around,  and  Dunlap  said:  'I  am  going 
to  revenge  myself,'  and  instantly  fired  his  pistol,  about 
three  feet  from  the  body  of  Jones.  The  ball  entered  his 
body  on  the  right  side,  just  below  the  collar-bone,  and 
came  out  behind,  about  five  inches  below  the  top  of  his 
shoulder,  close  by  the  backbone.  William  Morrison  and 
McCall  ran  to  Jones,  and  several  persons  asked  him  what 
was  the  matter,  and  he  replied:  'That  rascal,  Dunlap,  has 
shot  me.'  And  Morrison  asked  him  for  what  reason,  and 
Jones  answered:  'I  don't  know;'  and  said:  'I  am  gone,' 
and  expired  in  about  five  minutes. 

"The  moment  Dunlap  shot  Jones,  he  ran  back  to  his 
horse  where  McCall  had  stood,  jumped  on  him,  and  gal- 
loped off  as  fast  as  possible  to  his  house,  where  he  told  his 
wife,  in  presence  of  John  Menard,  that  he  had  'shot  that 
rascal  Jones,'  and  immediately  loaded  his  pistols  and  started 
off  down  the  road  toward  the  Point,  in  company  with  R. 
Porter,  and  has  never  been  seen  since." 

Here  the  account  goes  on  to  say: 

"It  is  well  known  that  Backus,  Robinson,  Gilbreath, 
10 


148 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


Finney,  Michael  Jones,  and  Langlois  were  in  Cahises 
holding  counsel  to  kill  this  man  Rice  Jones.  The  day 
Dunlap  sent  a  challenge  to  William  Morrison,  Backus, 
Robinson,  and  Gilbreath  were  at  Dunlap's,  with  T.  Smith 
holding  the  door  fast,  while  Capt.  Bilderback  stood  at  the 
door  a  long  time  and  could  not  get  in,  although  his  daugh- 
ter was  at  the  point  of  death.  At  last  Dunlap  opened  the 
door,  and  said  'the  men  were  in  council  for  that  purpose^ 
intimating  the  killing  of  young  Jones,  and  Gilbreath  an- 
swered Bilderback  and  said  his  daughter  would  not  die 
for  one  hour.  J.  Edgar  saw  these  men  go  down  to  Dun- 
lap's  that  day  and  remain  nearly  two  hours,  and  from  the 
movements  of  these  men  back  and  forward  from  Dunlap's 
house  for  some  time  before  that  day  and  on  the  very  day 
Jones  was  shot,  [there  was  no  doubt]  that  these  men  were 
accessories  to  the  death  of  Rice  Jones." 

If  there  were  lacking  anything  to  thoroughly  convince 
the  world  that  the  persons  who  compassed  the  death  of 
Rice  Jones  were  actuated  by  the  most  virulent  passions, 
the  measure  of  proof  would  be  filled  to  overflowing  by 
the  following  blasphemous  and  altogether  unparalleled 
utterances,  quoted  from  the  Morrison  record,  of  one  of 
them,  whose  spirit  may  be  presumed  to  have  characterized 
all  of  the  conspirators:  "James  Finney*  said  in  Folk's 
'that  if  he  met  Jesus  Christ  in  the  street  he  would  give 
his  hand  in  preference  to  Dunlap,  and  if  Dunlap  went  to 
hell  he  would  go  to  hell  also  in  preference  to  going  to 
heaven ;  and  if  Dunlap  was  to  go  to  heaven,  he  would  get 
a  higher  seat  in  heaven  than  Jesus  Christ,  and  be  set  at  , 
the  right  hand  of  God  for  killing  Rice  Jones.' "  § 

The  friends  of  Dr.  Dunlap  farcically  pretended  to  claim  | 

*  This  James  Finney  is  presumed  to  be  the  one  of  that  name  who  from  | 

^795  to   1803  was  one  of  the  twelve  men  who  constituted  the  Randolph  ? 

County  court  of  common  pleas,  other  prominent  members  of  which  were  ; 

Justices  John  Edgar,  Pierre  Menard,  and  Robert  Reynolds.  ;> 


ULISYS 
■IMHMiaHMiNimwMiiM 


RICE  JONES. 


149 


Zahises 
he  day- 
Backus, 
.  Smith 
at  the 
daugh- 
ned  the 
*)itrpose' 
ath  an- 
not  die 
o  Dun- 
rom  the 
)unlap's 
ery  day- 
en  were 


onvince 
eath  of 
assions, 
/ing  by 
ralleled 

one  of 
cterized 

Folk's 
Id  give 
vent  to 
Ding  to 
uld  get 
e  set  at 


o  claim  t 

who  from  ? 

Randolph  1 

lich  were  k 


} 


that  he  did  the  killing  in  self-defence,  but  eye-witnesses 
declared  it,  as  do  all  historians,  a  deliberate  and  cold- 
blooded murder,  by  the  law  of  both  God  and  man — a  fact 
of  which  Dunlap  was  perfectly  well  aware  and  knew  would 
be  easily  proven,  as  is  evidenced  by  his  immediate  aban- 
donment of  wife  and  children  and  flight  to  far-off  Texas, 
as  was  subsequently  learned,  whence  he  never  returned  to 
answer  for  his  crime  in  the  temporal  courts  of  Illinois. 
It  was  no  doubt  a  part  of  the  prearranged  plan  for  Dunlap 
to  flee  the  country,  that  he  could  not  be  brought  to  trial, 
in  which  his  evidence  would  have  hopelessly  implicated 
his  companions  in  crime  as  immediate  accessories  to  the 
assassination.  The  case  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  grand  jury,  which,  after  bringing  in  an  indictment 
against  Dunlap  for  murder,  also  indicted  Michael  Jones, 
because  "he  did,  on  the  6th  day  of  December,  1808,  incite, 
move,  aid,  and  abet,  feloneously  and  with  malice  afore- 
thought, the  said  James  Dunlap  to  commit  the  crime  of 
murder." 

When  the  case  of  The  United  States  versus  Michael 
Jones  was  reached  on  the  calendar  of  the  territorial  circuit 
court,  in  September,  1809,  Judges  Alexander  Stuart,  Oba- 
diah  Jones,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas  presiding,  the  prosecut- 
ing-attorney,  B.  H.  Doyle,  presenting  an  affidavit  of  Archi- 
bald McKnabb,  "an  important  witness,"  to  the  effect  that 
he  was  too  sick  to  attend  court,  asked  for  a  continuance 
of  the  trial,  which  being  granted,  Michael  Jones  was  ad- 
mitted to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $3000,  his  sureties  being  John 
McFerron,  Shadrach  Bond,  jr.,  Thomas  Leavens,  Henry 
Leavens,  Henry  Connor,  and  Samuel  Cochran.  The  post- 
poned case  came  up  for  trial  on  April  10,  18 10,  before  a 
jury  consisting  of  Wm.  Rector,  Paul  Harralson,  Thomas 
Wideman,  Wm.  McBride,  John  Anderson,  George  Frank- 
lin, David  Anderson,  John  McFerron,  Henry  Connor,  Geo. 
Creath,  Jacob  Funk,  and  James  Fulton,  who  brought  in  a 


if 


ISO 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


verdict  of  acquittal.  As  "there  were  probable  grounds  for 
preferring  the  indictment,"  the  court  "exonerated  the  prose- 
cutor— John  Rice  Jones  } — from  paying  the  costs!"* 

The  fact  that  among  the  jurors  were  two  of  the  accused 
man's  bondsmen  and  sympathetic  personal  friends,  and 
other  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  conduct  of  the  case 
and  trial,  may  not  have  any  significance ;  but  it  is  fair  to 
infer  that  men  who  would  be  so  far  influenced  by  "hate 
that  sins"  and  rank  envy  as  to  coolly  plot  the  deliberate 
murder  of  a  fellowman,  would  not  scruple  to  avail  them- 
selves of  any  foul  means  that  could  be  employed  toward 
the  acquittal  of  one  on  trial  for  complicity  in  a  crime  to 
the  committing  of  which  they  all  contributed  and  in  the 
perpetration  of  which  they  gloried — the  death  of  one  whose 
brilliancy,  virtues,  personal  popularity  with  the  people, 
and  promise  of  great  political  and  professional  success, 
filled  his  enemies  with  a  jealousy  which,  with  the  disap- 
pointment of  political  defeat  and  the  pruriency  of  personal 
enmity,  simply  made  the  matter  of  his  removal  impera- 
tively necessary  to  their  peace  of  mind.  These  are  the 
conclusions  that  force  themselves  upon  the  mind  when  the 
facts  and  circumstances  preceding  and  attending  the  mur- 
der are  studied  in  their  true  relations. 

While  it  is  a  matter  of  historical  record  that  "the  whole 
community  mourned  the  death  of  this  fine  young  man, 
cut  off  in  his  prime  by  an  assassin,"  it  is  equally  certain 
that  the  finding  of  the  jury  was  not  in  accord  with  the 
popular  verdict ;  for  familiar  as  they  must  have  been,  from 
the  notoriously  open  threats  and  malevolent  actions  of 
the  enemies  of  the  murdered  man,  with  the  circumstances 
leading  up  to  the  killing,  the  people  knew,  however  a  jury 
might  decide,  that  James  Dunlap  was  guilty  of  murder  in 
the  first  degreo,  and  that  Michael  Jones,  Elijah  Backus, 
James  Gilbreath,  James  Finney,  and  their  worthy  confrhes 

*  McDonough's  "  History  of  Randolph  County,  111. " 


I. 


ULISYS 

■  I mill  Ml  ■•«■•■• 


i*M  »m*i  *•• 


RICE  JONES. 


151 


'hate 


W 


'V- 


I*-- 


I^B'^M**'' 


were  immediate  accessories  to  the  atrocious  crime;  and  as 
such  they  will  go  down  in  history — gloriously  to  them,  in 
their  own  estimation,  be  it  said,  if  they  died  entertaining 
the  shocking  sentiments  heretofore  quoted  as  expressed 
by  the  blasphemous  Finney,  one  of  the  immortal  band. 

Of  the  abilities  and  qualities  of  Rice  Jones,  it  is  here 
and  now  unnecessary  to  speak  at  length,  as  all  writers 
concede  his  extraordinary  capacity,  his  brilliant  talents, 
and  his  varied  mental  attainments;  while  his  noble  per- 
sonal characteristics  were  such  as  to  greatly  endear  him 
to  the  mass  of  the  people,  whose  hearts  were  not  of  that 
unhappy  kind  that  beat  in  the  breasts  of  his  implacable 
enemies.  However  preeminent  a  man  may  be  intellectu- 
ally, if  detestable  traits  and  odious  conduct  distinguish 
him,  "the  entire  community"  in  which  he  dwells  never 
grieves  for  him,  as  did  the  people  of  Kaskaskia  and  the 
county  of  Randolph  for  Rice  Jones.  While  they  abhorred 
his  slayers  and  their  bloody  deed,  they  mourned  his  death 
and  his  tragic  fate,  because 

"  His  life  was  noble,  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  This  was  a  man." 

Ex-Gov.  Reynolds  of  Illinois,  who  knew  him  personally 
and  was  intimate  with  many  public  men  and  others  who 
knew  him  well,  writing  so  late  as<,  1852,  declares  that 
"judging  from  the  character  he  acquired  at  school  and 
from  what  was  known  of  him  at  Kaskaskia,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  his  superior  was  not  in  the  country  before 
or  after  his  death.  '"*  *  He  possessed  a  strong  intellect 
and  was  also  endowed  with  an  excessive  ambition,  together 
with  an  ardent  and  impetuous  disposition  that  showed  the 
Welsh  temperament  more  than  his  father,"  and  that,  alto- 
gether, "he  was  a  young  man  of  exceedingly  great  prom- 
ise."    Another  historian,  in  concluding  a  notice  of  him. 


516621 


I 


152 


EARLY   ILLINOIS. 


declares  that  in  his  untimely  death  "the  bar  of  Illinois 
was  deprived  of  one  of  its  most  promising  members  and 
politics  of  a  bright  particular  star;"  and  all  writers  who 
have  occasion  to  speak  of  him,  without  exception,  express 
similar  glowing  opinions  of  him. 

One  of  his  classmates  at  the  Transylvania  University, 
who  afterward  became  nationally  eminent  as  a  U.-S.  sena- 
tor from  Kentucky  and  as  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  the  learned  and  brilliant  Col.  Richard  Mentor  John- 
son, often  spoke  of  him  to  Gen.  Geo.  Wallace  Jones,  who  sat 
with  Johnson  in  the  national  senate  and  was  a  half-brother 
of  Rice  Jones,  and  declared  him,  the  latter,  one  of  the  most 
gifted  men  he  had  ever  known.  Such  having  been  the 
case,  who  can  help  but  think  that  had  he  not  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  deadly  hatred  of  assassins  he  would  have 
become  one  of  the  most  distinguished  sons  of  his  adopted 
State,  and  left  a  name  that  she  would  have  proudly  cher- 
ished forever  among  those  of  the  illustrious  men  who  have 
made  her  history  so  glorious.  Yet  she  will  not  forget  him 
whose  able  and  zealous  advocacy  of  her  claims  to  recogni- 
tion as  a  territory  was  largely  instrumental  in  defeating 
the  machinations  of  her  enemies  and  speedily  placing  her 
on  the  way  to  early  admission  and  that  proud  place  among 
the  sisterhood  of  states  which  she  soon  achieved,  has  ever 
maintained,  and  will  continue  to  grace.* 

*  The  address  of  welcome  of  the  citizens  of  Randolph  County  to  Gov. 
Ninian  Edwards  on  his  arrival  in  Kaskaskia  in  June,  1809,  opens  thus:  "Pre- 
suming that  you  may  be  in  some  degree  unacquainted  with  the  feelings  and 
sentiments  of  the  citizens  at  this  important  crisis,  we  can  not  forbear  to 
express  our  hopes  that  you  will  take  into  consideration  that  the  majority, 
whose  incessant  exertions  eflfectuated  a  division  of  the  territory,  have  a  claim 
on  your  excellency  for  the  calumnies,  indignities,  and  other  enormities  which 
those  who  opposed  that  measure  never  ceased  to  heap  upon  the  friends  and 
advocates  of  the  present  system  of  our  government.  In  announcing  these 
truths,  while  we  deplore  that  the  gentleman  (Jesse  B.  Thomas]  who  was 
elected  to  congress  and  ultimately  succeeded  in  obtaining  justice  for  us,  was 
hung  in  effigy  at  Vincennes,  by  the  opposers  of  the  division,  and  that  one 


RICE  JONES. 


153 


Still  he  died  neither  unwept  nor  unsung,  and  chroniclers 
of  early  Illinois  history  will  continue  to  pay  that  just 
tribute  to  his  talents,  his  character,  and  his  patriotic  ser- 
vices first  contained  in  the  writings  of  that  impartial  histo- 
rian and  nobleman,  the  late  ex-Gov.  John  Reynolds.  Well 
may  each  one  who  has  honorably  figured  in  the  history 
of  his  country,  his  state,  or  his  community, 

"Wish  no  other  herald, 
No  other  speaker  of  his  living  actions, 
To  keep  his  honor  from  corruption, 
Than  such  an  honest  chronicler." 

To  this  day,  the  spot  near  "the  old  elm  tree,"  where 
Rice  Jones  fell  mortally  wounded  and  a  moment  afterward 
expired,  on  that  memorable  December  day,  full  four  score 
years  ago,  is  pointed  out  to  visitors  by  the  people  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  where 

"  The  soft  memory  of  his  virtues  yet 
Lingers,  like  twilight  hues  when  the  bright  sun  is  set." 

of  the  warmest  friends  and  ablest  advocates  of  the  measure  [Rice  Jones]  was 
assassinated  at  Kaskaskia,  in  consequence  of  their  machinations,  we  derive 
great  consolation  from  a  firm  belief  that  your  excellency  will  gratify  the  virtu- 
ous majority,  to  whose  patriotic  exertions  the  citizens  are  indebted  for  the 
government  of  their  choice,  and  your  excellency  your  high  station,  with  that 
honorable  indemnity  which  is  in  your  gift,  and  which  would  be  considered  by 
them  as  a  remuneration  for  all  those  indignities,  and  a  pledge  of  their  future 
support  to  your  administration." — Edwards'  "  History  of  Illinois,"  pp.  29-30. 


FERGUS'    HISTORICAL    SERIES,    No.    32. 

fERQUS   PRINTINa   COMPANY,   OHIOAQO. 


